Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: New enemies from Killian's past come to Storybrooke seeking revenge for the crimes he committed when he first became a pirate centuries ago. In the backstory, Killian fights to reveal his King's cowardice and to destroy him as well as their corrupt Kingdom like Liam had proclaimed he would do before he died. Takes place after Henry leaves home seeking his own story and adventure.
1. Chapter 1

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter One

Two hundred years ago, in the Kingdom of Longbourn…

The Captain of the naval ship once known as the Jewel of the Realm, was dead. Liam Jones had been killed on a dangerous mission to a scarcely known island in a distant realm called Neverland, to retrieve what he'd been told was a plant containing medicinal properties with the power to cure any ill. However, in a vain attempt to disabuse his younger brother of his unbending notion that the plant was really a poison which the brothers' King hoped to use to destroy their Kingdom's enemies, after the island's only inhabitant, a teenage boy who called himself Peter Pan, had told them the truth of the dreamshade's power. It wasn't long after Liam's death that the younger Jones and the Captain's Lieutenant, laid his brother to rest within the deep dark blue waters surrounding them, as every naval officer and sailor who died at sea was.

After the funeral, the new Captain Jones and his crew made their way to the closest port for food and supplies which included barrels of gunpowder and even rum despite the Jones brothers' former rule there was to be no drinking while aboard the ship and on duty, as well as new apparel that would show anyone the crew would ever come across they were no longer the naval officers they had been until that morning, but pirates willing to do everything it took of them to bring down the immoral King they once served and to destroy their corrupt Kingdom.

Finally, hours later within the Captain's quarters recently bestowed to him upon his brother's death, after reluctantly taking up the reigns as the ship's new Captain, Killian Jones stood within the middle of the room and stared ahead of him at nothing while lost in the memories forefront within his mind. The crew remained above deck drinking and celebrating upon becoming pirates, as they were excited to begin their mission which their Captain proclaimed hours earlier. However, Killian wasn't in the mood to celebrate anything, the pain of his brother's death still weighing very heavily on his mind.

Killian thought of Liam, all he had ever done to protect him in their years trapped as slaves, and of his brother's stubbornness to trust in him enough that ultimately led to his death a second time only moments after they landed back in the ocean within their own Kingdom because they had left Neverland, despite the boy's warning to him that they better not leave the island unless they were willing to pay the price for the cure which had saved the older Jones for a brief time.

The Lieutenant had tried to find Pan again so he could pay the price the boy sought not knowing what it would be. However, Pan never reappeared to them again, knowing the brothers would eventually give up and leave the island to return home with their debt unpaid as though their lives were nothing more than a game to him.

At last, Killian finally broke from his thoughts about what he had lost that day, and glanced down at the tray of food and goblet of rum the man whom he had right away appointed to be his first mate, had brought him some time ago. And for the first time since he and Liam had survived the angry storm at sea which had liberated the brothers Jones from slavery, Killian grabbed the cup and drank the bitter drink that burned in his throat, yet went down as smoothly as it used to back when he used to drink too much to try to quell his pain and anger over the many years trapped under Captain Silver's control.

When he turned to face the small square mirror hanging up on the wall above his bed beside him, he reached down for a knife he wore in a scabbard on his belt after staring at his reflection for only a few seconds and started to cut his hair, beginning with the queue he wore tied up behind his head, then continued on by cutting the rest slightly shorter until his hair was messy and unruly, yet styled to be so as another way of showing defiance against the code of the Royal Navy he no longer served in.

While he cut, Killian's mind wandered back again to that morning just after his crew dropped his brother's body into the ocean, when he had given his men his first speech as their Captain. He worryingly began to question whether or not he was doing right by Liam by giving up the good man he had worked so hard to become since becoming a naval officer like he promised his brother he would, all to become a pirate he knew he needed to be now in order to bring down the corrupt King and their Kingdom.

A few years earlier…

 _Killian Jones stood in the center of his men who all surrounded him as they laid his older brother's body to rest within the sea and once the ceremony ended, one of his crew handed their new Captain Liam's satchel containing the golden sextant that was a map of Neverland's stars while he said softly, "_ _This belongs to you now… Captain."_

 _The younger Jones took it from the man and tenderly caressed the golden insignia within the latch of the satchel while he whispered sadly, "You'll never leave my side, brother."_

 _"We are sworn to serve the King and the realm," he then spoke out to address his men who still surrounded him, in order to give them their new orders under his command and handed off his brother's satchel once more before taking a flaming torch into his hands as one other member of his crew did as well. "They sent us to retrieve an unthinkable poison, one that killed our dear Captain."_

 _"Never again shall anyone set sail to that cursed land," Killian continued on upon turning to the pegasus sail which had made it possible for them to fly off to Neverland, and immediately ran across the deck to climb up within its reach, then set fire to the sail to burn it before tossing the torch away. "And never again shall we take such orders…"_

 _The crewmen eagerly began to comply with him as they murmured, "Yes! Here, here!"_

 _He cried out again, "Serving the King… fighting his wars!"_

 _"No!" his men shouted in agreement._

 _"That is the way of dishonor!" Killian continued calling out to them in anger. "And all you who disagree, flee now or walk the bloody plank! For those who stay will be free men, and I will be your Captain."_

 _All of the men around him shouted out again as they cheered between his words, "Aye!"_

 _Their Captain further added fervently, "We'll sail under the crimson flag and we'll give our enemies no quarter. We'll take what we please! And we'll live by our own rules… For that is the best form of all! Our Kingdom is corrupt and immoral. They took my brother from me, and now I'm gonna take everything they've got… Starting with this ship! Bring the paint from below!"_

 _"Sir?" one of his crew questioned him._

 _"It's time we rename this vessel," the younger Jones darkly answered him, as he stripped off the jacket of his naval uniform, and tossed it away into the ocean to get rid of it. "We no longer sail as the Jewel of the Realm. We now sail as the Jolly Roger. And when they come for us, I want them to know exactly what we are… Pirates! For at least among thieves, there is honor!"_

 _The men all around their Captain began to cheer him on enthusiastically while they chanted over and over, "Long live Captain Jones! Captain Jones! Captain Jones! Captain Jones! Captain Jones! Captain Jones! Captain Jones! Captain Jones! Captain Jones! Captain Jones!"_

Once he finally broke again from his thoughts as he finished cutting his hair, Killian had made up his mind that he had no choice but to become a pirate in order to accomplish what was needed of him. Longbourn's King had to pay dearly for taking his brother away from him and for sending them to a God forsaken island for a poisonous plant meant to help wipe out their enemies.

He reached down to pick up the goblet of rum again and took another drink to push down any trepidations he might have still carried about taking on this new mission and in becoming a pirate in order to get his revenge, then at last ripped off what remained of his naval uniform so he could change into the new apparel he purchased for himself in another port.

A knock soon sounded on the other side of his quarters' door and he finished buttoning his black shirt as he called out, "Come in!"

"Captain… we've nearly reached port just south of the Kingdom's castle," the first mate quietly informed him upon entering the room, noticing his Captain's new hairstyle, but then also saw that he hadn't eaten and questioned him on it. "You haven't eaten anything?"

"I'm not hungry," Killian responded curtly when he glanced over at him, then continued to finish dressing and changed the subject. "You said we've nearly reached our destination?"

The crewman nodded as he replied, "Yes, Sir. What are your orders?"

The younger Jones looked into the mirror again in order to make sure that his vest he now wore was straightened and then he answered, "Allow the crew to enjoy the rest of the night however they wish. They deserve to have their fun before this bloody war begins. It won't do us much good to attack as long as they remain in their drunken state, so we'll remain beyond the port where we won't be sighted. And then in two days time, we'll take the first step in making the King pay for his crimes."

"Aye, Captain," his first mate responded, then turned to leave the room again to return above deck to join the rest of the crew, until Killian called out to him.

"Mr. Bombay… Please see to it that no damage is done to the Jolly Roger while the crewmen continue to grow drunker by the minute," he ordered sternly. "And should any damages occur, the men who cause it will be forced to walk the plank. This ship is going to help us in our endeavor to make the King learn who we are and that he never should have sent us on such a foolhardy mission. It's to remain shipshape. Do I make myself clear?"

The man nodded again as he replied, "Perfectly, Sir. I'll see to it."

Once he was gone, Killian faced the mirror again to at last observe his new image upon becoming fully dressed. He then looked down at his apparel to admire his long black leather duster, a dark red vest to wear over his black button up shirt, a leather belt with a fancy silver buckle, a new scabbard for his new cutlass with a black ivory hilt, and tall leather boots. It was definitely the look of a vicious pirate and not that of a man who still fought within the Royal Navy. It was a look he realized he was quite proud of in fact. Or at least so he pretended to believe. In truth, Killian wasn't proud of what he was becoming in the slightest. But he thirsted for revenge and he no longer cared what he became to get it.

Present day, in what little remained of the Kingdom of Longbourn…

Upon the shore of the beach behind the ruins of the castle she had grown up in, an elegant woman born a Princess and her husband, a former member of the Royal Navy himself, now both of whom looked young in age despite having been alive for over two centuries, stood as they stared out at the sunset before them. The soldier then pulled off the coat he wore and wrapped it around his wife's shoulders by way of offering her comfort upon seeing sadness as well as anger in her eyes. However, she immediately shrugged it off and then turned to face him at last as she finally spoke.

She looked at him crossly as she stated, "I'm not looking for comfort right now, Jim. Not when we're this close to finding the man who murdered my father after all these years. I only want justice."

"You seem to forget that this man also killed the man I looked up to and saw like he was my own father," the former soldier answered in frustration. "I want to see that he suffer from all he's done too. But we need to be cautious and patient when we journey to this strange new land we're about to travel to so we can find him. We'll be strangers in a land unknown to us and therefore, that slave will have the advantage."

"The advantage will actually be yours," a man from behind them coldly responded, as the couple turned around to come face to face with someone who's traveled to many lands and many realms thanks to the power he wielded through his hat. "The heroes there won't know you're coming. If you're smart and you don't reveal yourself to your enemy right away, then you ought to be able to take him by surprise before anyone's able to stop you."

The Princess looked at the hatter sternly while she asked, "So… did the antidote I gave you for the poison killing your little girl work?"

Jefferson nodded and replied, "It did. Which is why I've come, even though I'm betraying some people I once considered to be somewhat my friends. Somewhat. I take no pleasure in my opening you a portal to Storybrooke. But you saved my Grace. And anyone there who knows me, knows that my daughter comes before everything. So… we have a deal. Are you ready?"

"We're ready," Jim answered, and quickly stepped back along with his wife as they watched the hatter kneel down while he laid his hat upon the ground, then work to use it to open up a portal for them. "We've been ready for a very long time."

"Of course you have," Jefferson responded and let out a sigh once the portal at last opened. "Just remember… you'll have to find your own passage out of this new land because I won't be coming with you. A magic bean, or something. And just to be safe, I wouldn't cross the town line. There's always some sort of magical barrier over it and who knows what might happen to you if you do. Good luck."

The hatter stood up and backed away as they neared his portal to jump inside, then curiously he asked, "By the way… who is the object of your revenge?"

The woman among them cruelly replied, "He was once just a slave. To us, that's all he'll ever be, but now he goes by the name, Captain Hook."

Before anymore was said, the former Princess and former soldier from Longbourn jumped with only one thought in mind as they did so. The thought of Storybrooke where they planned to find the man who murdered those they both loved and cared about, and to make him pay for his crimes against their Kingdom which occurred over two hundred years ago.


	2. Chapter 2

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Two

Deep within the woods, in Storybrooke…

Killian ran through the trees and brush as fast as he could, followed closely by Emma as they chased after a young thief, who had stolen money from the cash register after he held up the drug store where Sneezy was still working, using a pistol which the boy had managed to steal off of a pirate who had gotten himself a little too drunk the night before. Upon getting the dwarf's call he had been robbed by some kid, both sheriffs managed to track him down fairly easily, until he ran out of town and took off running through the woods to try to find himself someplace to lay low.

When they seemed to have lost him, Emma quickly called out to her husband that she believed she knew where the thief was going and told Killian to keep after him, while she suddenly took off in another direction so she could hopefully head him off before he disappeared over the town line.

Even though he didn't typically like it when the woman he loved suggested they split up to chase anyone down, out of fear that something might happen to her, the Captain understood it was necessary at times and this time was no different. So, he kept running through the area where he last saw the boy he and Emma eventually recognized to be one of Pan's Lost Boys that never reformed like most of the others who came back with them from Neverland had, and was still loyal to Pan and their fight even though Pan was long since dead.

Eventually, Hook had to stop running upon losing sight of the boy for a second time, but he carefully looked around the vast area of the woods surrounding him for any signs that might show him which way the Lost Boy had run. When Killian finally neared the town line, knowing it was where Emma had gone after expecting it was where the kid was running towards, he pulled out his cell phone to call his wife. However, when he finished dialing, while he waited for her to pick up, a shot fired from behind him and the bullet from the stolen gun suddenly struck him in his arm, causing Kilian to cry out as he turned around to face the thief who just tried to kill him and yet failed to do so.

"You've wasted your shot, boy," Killian then called out to him coldly, as the thief attempted to pull the pistol's trigger once more to try to kill the pirate again despite the weapon only having the ability to fire off a single shot, until he finally just dropped it on the ground next to him. "I thought Pan might have taught you better. Next time you want to try to kill me, aim higher. Now… where's the money you stole from the dwarf?"

"My name's Devin, not 'boy'," the teenager crossly retorted, as he carefully pulled out a shiv he also carried on him that he had carved himself from a fallen tree branch. "And that money's mine. You've all forced me to live here in this rotten world. So I'll do whatever I have to in order to get by. That includes killing you like Pan should have done centuries ago!"

Before Killian had the chance to attempt to talk him down anymore, not wanting to use his hook or his own gun that had been given to him by his father in law when David passed his badge down to him upon taking over as the new sheriff, Devin suddenly charged at Hook in anger with the makeshift dagger in his hands.

As he landed on top of the Captain when they both fell back against the ground in a struggle, the boy fought against Killian to run him through with the weapon, while Killian struggled to keep him from hurting him until he finally managed to knock it away from Devin using his hook to do so.

However, the Lost Boy used the pirate's brief distraction when he knocked the shiv away from him against him, as he struck Killian hard across his face, then swiftly pulled out a knife he had also pulled off of the drunken pirate as well and struggled with the man lying beneath him to force the blade down, until Emma appeared in front of her husband's assailant a few feet away as she immediately used her magic to rip the dagger from his hands. And upon her doing so, Killian at last ended the fight when he then used Emma's sudden appearance against him too, as he lifted his hook and struck Devin hard against the side of his head, just like Killian had done to his younger brother when Liam had tried to kill him some time ago.

Emma immediately rushed over to her husband, then helped him up from the ground once Killian carefully rolled Devin off of him and onto his back as she asked worryingly, "Are you okay? What happened?"

When she then noticed the wound left behind from the musket ball striking his arm, the Savior worked quickly to heal it while he replied, "I'm fine, love. Honestly. The bullet only grazed me. I let this boy get the drop on me because I let my guard down momentarily to call you. Were you worried about me?"

"I picked up just as I heard the shot," she answered him sternly, despite his cheeky grin when he attempted to downplay the seriousness of him nearly getting killed. "You were lucky he was a bad aim. Where did he even get the gun?"

"It's not one of your modernized guns," the pirate captain responded as he took the weapon from her hands once she picked it up from the ground, then looked at it more closely in trying to identify who it might have belonged to, while Emma also picked up the boy's dagger from the ground as well. "It's an old pistol that belongs to one of my crew. Devin must have stolen it and his dagger from off of him when they got a little too drunk last night. The dagger too no doubt. I knew I should have been keeping a better eye on them. Mr. Smee's the only one disciplined enough to know when he needs to quit drinking."

When he then tucked the pistol into his belt while Emma searched the thief for the money he had stolen and placed it into her own jacket pockets after she found it all, Killian looked over at the woman he loved as he spoke again out of concern saying, "While I'm glad a number of the Lost Boys we brought back with us from Neverland reformed properly and are happy with living here in Storybrooke in their new homes, Emma… I warned you there were some of them who wouldn't be so happy to finally be free of that demon. This one especially. We shouldn't have let him out of his cell beneath the hospital a few days ago like we did most of the others. Did I not warn you?"

Emma scoffed out of frustration as she replied questioningly, "How was I supposed to know that this kid was playing us, when he acted just as sincere about having changed his outlook like the others? He did fool Regina too."

"Because Regina's head isn't exactly on straight and she hasn't been in her right sort of mind since Henry left in search of his own adventure among the dangers of our world," her husband answered, while he carefully tucked the dagger the boy had stolen into his belt. "She's lonely after all. Not that I blame her. I miss the lad too. And you do too. Otherwise, your superpower would have told you he was lying about being changed. And to be honest, I can't fully blame Devin for refusing to do what's best for him. He doesn't trust us, Swan. You did after all, allow Regina to rip out his heart so you could get him to help you get a message to Henry while he was being held prisoner by Pan."

"You told me how important getting a message to Henry was," the Savior crossly responded to him as they continued to talk, while the Lost Boy remained knocked out cold on the ground. "That every moment longer he was Pan's prisoner, the closer he was to becoming a Lost Boy just like Devin."

Killian walked over to stand in front of her and pulled her close to him while he whispered gently, "I understand, Emma. I do. And you're right that I did tell you that because I understand better than most why these boys became as they were. As do you. You did what you had to do to give Henry what hope he needed and it was the only chance you had. But take it from someone who also knows how it feels to have his heart ripped out so he could become a puppet under someone else's control. It's not so easily forgotten. That's why he won't let go of his hate for us and his loyalty to Pan. He won't ever change, and will remain loyal to Pan until he's just as dead. Sadly, he would have been better off remaining behind in Neverland with the rest of the worst who stayed."

She then nodded in understanding as she looked up into his eyes and replied, "You're right. I'm sorry that I didn't see it before. Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm perfectly fine, love," he answered her assuredly, then leaned in to kiss her until he immediately pulled back upon hearing the boy on the ground at their feet as he began to wake.

"Let go of me, pirate!" Devin cried out when Killian and Emma both pulled him back to his feet as they began to start back into town with him. "Where are you taking me?"

Emma responded in frustration, "We're taking you back to your cell. Look, kid… we'll see what we can do about sending you back to Neverland if that's what you really want. We really don't want to have to keep you locked up in the hospital's mental ward for the rest of your life. We really do want to help you."

The teenager glared at her while he cruelly retorted, "You mean like you tried to help Pan and Felix?"

"It was Rumplestiltskin who killed Pan so he could try to save us from the demon's bloody curse," Hook said to him again in anger. "And Pan was the one who killed Felix himself because he knew Felix was the one most loyal to him. Loyalty was the only thing your brave leader loved aside from himself and that love was what he needed to crush in order to cast the curse."

"You're lying!" Devin shouted, even though a small part of him knew that the Captain really wasn't. "Even if that was true, it was done out of loyalty that he had for all of us. Felix too."

The Savior sadly shook her head at his misguided belief and then she softly replied, "For your sake, I wish it were."

Killian changed the subject again while he looked over at his wife as they continued walking, until they finally arrived back into town, and then he asked, "So, Swan… exactly what's the plan for this evening? A quiet night at home, or shall we meet our family at Granny's for dinner?"

"Actually, we're going over to Regina's for dinner tonight," Emma answered him, as she ignored Devin when he rolled his eyes in disgust of their sweet talk. "Mom and Dad will be there with Neal too. Like you said… she's lonely and she misses Henry like the rest of us. But she's really trying to break out of her slump. And she does make the best lasagna I've ever tasted."

"It sounds wonderful," her husband responded, then they finally arrived back at the hospital so they could return the Lost Boy to his cell where he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else, before they headed back to the drug store so they could return the stolen money to Sneezy.


	3. Chapter 3

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Three

A few hours earlier…

Regina walked down from her big white house on Mifflin Street, and into Storybrooke's graveyard with a bouquet of fresh flowers in her hands to lay over Robin's grave like she did every week, and sometimes more whenever she was going through a rough time since his passing. And with Henry leaving town nearly five weeks ago to travel to a world full of magic and unknown dangers to seek out his own story and a new life filled with adventure, she was definitely struggling because she missed her son terribly.

Since Henry left, Regina spent most of her time either at her office where she spent most of her days doing her Mayoral duties and other work, or at home where she could be left alone as she preferred to be. Zelena, Snow, and Emma all tried their best to help break her from her slump she had fallen into by inviting her out to drinks down at Aesop's Tables, like Regina had done for Emma back when she allowed herself to believe that the man she loved could actually leave her after they had hit a rough patch within their engagement. And Regina went. Twice, but drinking didn't typically help her much by way of making her feel better. Although she was grateful to her sister and their friends for trying.

Regina was deeply proud of her son for being brave about facing on his own what lay ahead for him to try to find himself, and happy for him too. And while she had been parted from him for nine months a couple years back after Pan had cast his curse to make him and Emma forget their real life, this time Regina knew her son would be gone for much longer and not knowing for sure that he was safe worried her.

After she arrived at Robin' tombstone, the Queen knelt down on the ground in front of it and laid her flowers against the stone as she spoke to the man she loved softly, talking to him again about Henry, about how she's fallen into a slump since he's been gone, and finally asking him for some sign of comfort, or simply anything that might help her to pull herself out of her worries so she won't continue to shut her friends out any longer.

Several minutes of silence passed by and nothing changed, not that she really expected anything would. At least not until something unexpected did happen and even though Regina couldn't see or hear him as he appeared behind her, Robin laid his hand down over her shoulder to offer her what little comfort he could like she asked for.

The archer who loved her spoke gently to her as he whispered, "Let the rest of your family in, Regina. This… slump as you call it, will pass. But only if you push through your fears and worries so that you won't continue to shut out all those who wish to help you. Perhaps someday… in a moment when you need me most direly, you will be able to see and hear me. But for today, all I can offer you is a sense of peace. Henry is safe and happy. I'm looking after him too. I love you, Regina. I always will."

When he finished speaking, the Queen… much to her surprise, found she finally felt the peace she had come to visit him for, as the weight which had fallen over her from her worries and fears lifted away. Of course, Regina was still worried about her son. Yet while she hadn't heard the man she loved speaking to her, she somehow knew Robin was out there looking after Henry as much as he was her too and that was enough to ease her mind.

After spending a little more time at his grave to take in the quiet and peace while she thought of her love, Regina finally laid her hand down against the stone and traced her fingers over Robin's name, then stood up to leave the cemetery to return home. On her way, she typed out a text to both Snow and Emma asking them to come with their husbands to her house that evening for dinner, and that she would be making lasagna and dessert. She suspected Zelena would be at home like she had been when she left earlier, now that they were living together again. But in case she wasn't, she sent her sister the same text as well.

Over the next few hours, Regina and Zelena worked on making dinner and dessert together while they talked. Things between the two sisters have never been better now that all of their pain, hate, and jealousy was all behind them. And the former Wicked Witch and Evil Queen couldn't be happier they were sisters again at last.

Finally, while her lasagna was cooling, and her cranberry apple crisp was nearly done baking in the oven, Regina worked to set the table as Zelena walked into the living room to take care of her fusing daughter, who had just woken up from her nap that surprisingly had lasted much longer than she expected it would.

While the Mayor organized the place settings perfectly upon her dining room table, and Zelena was still looking after baby Robin, Regina's mind wandered back to a brief conversation she once had with Henry during the time when Henry didn't know her as his mother. A time that he spoke of family.

 _She and Henry were walking together in the park while her son ate the ice cream she had bought for him, then at last she finally spoke to break the awkward silence between them as she asked, "The ice cream good?"_

 _"Delicious," he responded, while he continued to look ahead as they walked on, until he turned his head to look up at her at last, and she at him. "My mom used to take me for gelato in Little Italy. But this is just as good."_

 _"Well… Storybrooke's got its own charms, though I know it must seem quaint compared to the big city," Regina apprehensively replied, unsure really about how to talk to him knowing he was her son, yet being unable to say so or really treat him so._

 _The young teenager answered her, "It's nice, actually. New York's great, but there's so many people, it can make you feel…"_

 _The Mayor understood as she finished for him, "Alone."_

 _"Yeah," Henry stated, as he looked over at her again while she continued talking._

 _"Mm… Yeah," Regina said quietly. "That's the best part of a small town. Everybody knows everybody. It's like… It's like a big family."_

 _He thought for a few moments, then finally got up the nerve to talk to her about something troubling him as he questioned, "Can I tell you something?"_

 _She glanced over at him again as they neared the pond in front of them and stopped walking, then she responded, "Sure."_

 _"I don't think it was just the case that brought my mom to Storybrooke," her son continued while they kept their eyes on one another._

 _"Uh… what do you mean?" she asked him out of worry, wondering just how much he had come to suspect about what everyone was trying to hide from him._

 _Henry licked his ice cream again and then he replied, "I think she wanted to get out of New York for a while."_

 _Regina questioned again, "W… Why do you think that?"_

 _"My mom's boyfriend…" he answered her, while she simply nodded as she listened to him. "His name was Walsh. He proposed to her."_

 _"Oh," the Mayor uttered in surprise._

 _Then he spoke again saying, "And two days later, she's taking me out of school for some job in Maine. She wouldn't take a job in Queens if it meant I'd miss school."_

 _Out of curiosity, she asked him again, "What do you think happened?"_

 _"I don't know," the boy responded, this time as he shook his own head. "But I doubt we'd be here if she said yes."_

 _"And how do you feel about it?" Regina questioned. "Did you like him, this… Walsh?"_

 _Henry smiled as he replied, "I liked how happy he made her. Plus… it might be nice having more than two place settings during the holidays."_

 _Regina smiled down at him as well and then she sincerely answered him, "I think one day, you'll have more family than you'll know what to do with."_

 _"You think so?" he asked._

 _"I really do, the Mayor responded in truth, believing in that moment the curse over them would soon break and that Henry would come to be her son again._

While she thought about this moment, as she continued working to set the table, Regina smiled at just how right her son had been for wanting such a family. However, she was finally pulled from her thoughts again when she heard a knock at the front door. With Robin in her arms, Zelena walked past her sister as she told Regina she'd let their guests in, while Regina immediately returned to the kitchen in order to take out the dessert from the oven.

As Snow and her husband entered the mansion with baby Neal in her arms, followed closely by Emma and Killian, the ebony haired Princess lifted her nose to smell what lingered in the air as she complimented the sisters by saying, "Dinner and dessert smell wonderful. Thank you both for inviting us over tonight."

Zelena smiled while she replied, "You're welcome. Believe me… I'm the one who ought to thank you. While I love my sister, and I know how difficult of a time she's having now that Henry's gone… I am just so happy to have some company over other than my moping sister and fussy baby."

"I'm sure you are," Emma answered her, then looked over at her husband and smiled at him when he laid his hand over the small of her back, while the older sister led them all inside towards the dining room table to sit for dinner, as Regina walked out from the kitchen to join them carrying her first tray of lasagna with her. "I'm a little surprised honestly. I mean… we knew you'd find your way back soon, Regina, but…"

"Yes… I'm really sorry about being so distant," the Queen responded to her friend in apology. "To all of you. I know you all meant well and I'm so grateful. It's just that I was worried about Henry and knowing that I'm not going to be seeing him for some time… knowing that he's going to grow up without me there in his life… It was all just a bit overwhelming."

After he helped his wife into her seat and gently pushed her in towards the table, then finally sat down beside her himself, Killian looked up at Regina while he asked, "If you don't mind my asking… what's changed? You're looking quite happy this evening, love."

Snow nodded in agreement as she replied, "Killian's right. You really do, Regina. You look like you've found peace with Henry's yearning to go off to find his own story, in our world."

"Honestly… I'm not really sure how it happened, or if something actually did really happen at all," Regina answered them, as she took a seat at the table beside her sister, then looked at their friends all sitting across from them before she began to serve helpings of her lasagna. "I walked down to the cemetery earlier to bring flowers for Robin's grave. I spoke to him like I always do, only this time… I remember asking him for comfort and… and a short time later I suddenly began to feel so much better. I felt a sense of peace fall over me and I knew somehow Henry was safe. I can't help but feel like Robin is looking after him too, just like he's been looking after me. It was… amazing."

"Regina, that's so wonderful," Snow responded, then quickly raised her glass to offer up a toast. "Here's to you and this newfound sense of peace you've come to feel from the man you love."

David was the first to join in, followed by everyone else while the Prince added, "To Regina. And to Zelena as well, for helping her sister to make us all such an amazing meal. I've had this lasagna before and it really is the best lasagna I've ever had."

Emma replied, "To Regina and Zelena."

"So, Hook… Emma told us that you two had to chase after one of the Lost Boys we've been trying to reform through the woods today," David then stated to him out of curiosity, in hope of getting more of the story. "She said he stole money from the drug store when Sneezy had his back turned?"

"Aye," the Captain answered, then continued on. "The dwarf told us he happened to fall into another one of his sneezing fits before he had the chance to close the drawer, then Devin appeared in front of him with a pistol he stole from off of one of my crew last night upon him becoming too drunk and passing out, and demanded Sneezy give him the money. We chased him through the woods until we finally caught him. Everything worked out and Sneezy got all of his money back."

Emma looked at him disapprovingly because he had left out that he had gotten hurt and then she added, "It wasn't quite that simple. Luckily, everything is fine. But Killian was almost killed by that kid. Devin actually shot him."

Her husband looked at her sternly as he retorted, "It was only a graze in my arm. I was fine and would have been so even had Emma not been there."

"And then he tried to stab you too," she continued in frustration, then finally turned again to face the others around them. "Devin still holds a lot of anger and hate towards us for what we did to him that night in Neverland. I can't fully blame him either. I should have known he was only playing us when we released him thinking he could be better like most of the other Lost Boys we brought home with us. I missed all the signs and Killian was almost killed."

"It's like I told you, Swan…" Hook responded to her again, as he reached down to take his wife's hand for a moment in comfort before letting go again so he could begin to eat. "The fault was mine for letting my guard down. And it was his for doing the deed itself. The real sad thing is that Devin doesn't believe Pan ripped Felix's heart out selfishly, but because he was doing it for the good of them all and for what would have been the new Neverland had Pan succeeded in his plans for us. Devin didn't even know Pan had actually killed Felix until we told him so. The Lost Boys still follow him blindly, even though Pan's been dead for years now."

Snow reached out comfortingly as she patted her son in law's back, while he smiled at her in gratitude, then the Princess replied, "The last of those who still believe in him will come around eventually. In the meantime, I'm just so happy you're both alright."

The Savior smiled as she answered, "Thanks, Mom. So… Killian and I were thinking about going out on the Jolly Roger tomorrow. The town's been mostly quiet lately and I feel like we could both use a day off. Would any of you like to come with us?"

"You know what… I think that sounds like fun," David responded, much to everyone's surprise. "What? It would be and I don't think Snow and I have really been out sailing on your ship just for the fun of it before. Only when we were fighting mermaids and amongst ourselves because of that storm one of them called down upon us. A relaxing day out at sea sounds good to me."

"Me too," Charming's wife replied in agreement, then turned to look across the table again at the sisters. "You can count us in. Regina? Zelena? What about you?"

The former Wicked Witch looked over at her daughter sitting in the high chair beside her and saw Robin smiling at her as she began to laugh, then Zelena turned back to their friends while she answered, "It looks like Robin thinks it's a good idea too. We'll come."

The younger sister nodded as she responded, "Me too. Why not? I agree that we haven't been sailing before except on our little excursion to Neverland. Maybe a nice voyage might actually make me think differently about it. After all… Henry loves sailing and being out on your ship, Captain. Maybe when he comes back home, we can go again and I can show him I'm not as against it like I once was. What time should we meet you in the morning?"

"How about we plan to leave by nine o'clock," Emma replied. "That way we'll have all day and we won't feel like we have to hurry back."

"Nine o'clock it is then," Killian answered in agreement with the woman he loved. "I'll stop by the docks on our way home. Emma and I will… to make sure the Jolly Roger's shipshape and ready for us when we sail out."

The rest of the evening went on splendidly while everyone continued to talk and enjoy dinner and their dessert. None of the heroes suspected anything was wrong, or that danger was about to arrive in Storybrooke. A danger that was coming because of a war that occurred two centuries earlier, between a pirate and their King.


	4. Chapter 4

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Four

The next morning, Killian and Emma arrived within the harbor and boarded the Jolly Roger just before nine, expecting her parents, Regina, and Zelena any time. The Captain immediately readied the sails by climbing the masts like he always did in order to free them from above after he bound them to keep them from becoming torn by heavy winds, lightning, or anything else after each of his trips out. This time, Emma helped her husband by untying the right ropes from the masts down below, allowing Killian to do the hardest work so they would be ready to go once everyone arrived. After they finished, Hook swung down and Emma greeted him again with a kiss.

"You have no idea how much it impresses me when I see you climbing around up there and then seeing you swing back down like it's a walk in the park for you," the Savior whispered when she pulled back so she could look up into his eyes, and he into hers while he smugly grinned.

"I think I have a pretty good idea," the man she loved cheekily answered her, then leaned in close to kiss her again.

Once he was the one to pull back this time, he then led his wife up to the upper deck and around the ship's wheel. However, when they walked up to it, Emma was the first of them to notice the small gift wrapped box with Killian's name on it, sitting on top of the plank where he had carved the symbols for port and starboard into the wood with his hook to help Baelfire with learning how to sail so long ago, then scratched through it again as if to try to erase it after Baelfire turned against him upon learning the truth about what really happened to his mother.

She looked down at the gift in surprise, especially upon seeing that it was addressed to Lieutenant Jones instead of Hook, or even his given name, then picked it up to give to him as she asked, "Do you have any idea what this is, or who might have left it here for you?"

Killian shook his head in apprehension while he took it from her, then he said again quietly, "No, love. I've no idea. I don't understand why anyone would get me a gift, or why they would leave it here aboard my ship instead of just giving it to me in person. Or why they would address me as Leftenant Jones."

"Did someone leave you a gift?" David then questioned upon seeing the box in his hand when he and Snow walked up to the upper deck with Neal in his father's arms, to join them after they had boarded the Jolly Roger while Killian and Emma were distracted by the gift. "You should open it."

"I'm not so sure it's a good idea," Hook whispered warily. "Something doesn't feel right about it."

Charming shrugged and then he replied, "You never know if you don't open it to find out what's inside."

The pirate looked at him and nodded, then he responded, "Aye… you're right, mate."

At last, Killian carefully tore the gift wrapping paper around the box's lid using his hook to do so, as Regina and Zelena walked aboard as well while the former Wicked Witch was holding her daughter. When he finally opened it, he looked inside and his eyes suddenly became dark while he began to clench his jaw like he always did when something upset him, disquieting Emma as she looked at him again upon sensing his sudden distress. He then set the box back down on the surface where he picked it up from and pulled out a large, jagged and shimmering blue sapphire never cut or perfected.

"Killian… What is it?" she worryingly asked him as he did so. "What's wrong? What exactly is that?"

However, before he could answer her, he couldn't stop himself from remembering back to the night he and Liam survived the great storm that once kept the precious jewel hid and well protected from being stolen by pirates or any other sailors who foolishly traveled into the tempest like Captain Silver and his crew had done for it. The night when Killian's brother revealed to him and to the members of the Royal Navy who found them as they at last made it back to shore, he had pulled it from the storm.

 _After_ _Silver's cargo ship had been shipwrecked and all of the crew except for the brothers Jones killed, Liam swam himself and his unconscious brother back to shore through Hades' power, then climbed on land, coughing and panting while Liam helped Killian who was finally breathing more easily, though he struggled to more than he was upon them miraculously surviving such a storm which ended everyone else's lives. But before the older Jones could ask him if he was alright, at least ten members of the Royal Navy appeared in front of them as they approached the lucky survivors from down the beach._

 _"Ahoy, there!" the soldiers' Captain called out to the brothers in surprise upon seeing two men had survived the distant storm far out upon the ocean. "By the King's name… what's happened to you two sailors?"_

 _Killian spoke before his brother could as he weakly answered, "We're survivors of the tempest... that plagues these waters."_

 _The Captain was unimpressed, if not disapproving of their survival, and he unsympathetically replied, "Let me guess. You went in search of the Eye of the Storm? If you ask me, you got what you deserved."_

 _"You may be right," Liam suddenly called back when the leader and his men started to walk away, in doing so getting them to stand by. "But that gem is no legend."_

 _"You found it," the Captain then uttered in shock once Liam, who was still breathing heavily while he did so, suddenly pulled out the precious jewel from his coat's pocket to reveal it to the Captain._

 _The younger Jones looked at his brother in disbelief as he asked, "But how?"_

 _Liam turned to Killian and looked between him and the Captain while he responded, "In the bedlam, my brother was knocked unconscious. I managed to swim us to a few planks of wood. Providence did the rest."_

 _"Young man, your brother is a hero," the naval officer then said to Killian, as he reached his hand out to clasp Liam's arm to applaud him for his astounding achievement. "My ship will bring you to the King, who has offered a great reward for this stone."_

 _"We do not seek wealth, only honor," the older Jones immediately answered him, as the Captain looked at the hero once more. "Perhaps His Majesty might grant us a naval commission?"_

 _The leader of the soldiers graciously replied, "Why wait for the King? I would be honored to offer you both commissions on my ship. She's the flagship of the Royal Navy."_

 _Killian turned his head to look back towards the ship wading just beyond the shore, as did the others while he responded, "She's very pretty. What's her name?"_

 _"The Jewel of the Realm," the Captain stated proudly, then he and his men walked away from the brothers Jones so they could return to their duties at hand._

 _"Thank you, Liam…" Killian then spoke when he turned to his brother again once they were left alone, before they moved on to follow behind the soldiers. "For being the hero that I always wished to be. I won't squander this second chance you've given me."_

Killian's memory finally faded as he remembered them laughing together as both men had wrapped their arms around one another to offer comfort to the other while they walked. And then at last, Emma brought him back to the present when she gently laid her hand against his cheek and looked worryingly into his eyes, which slowly softened when she did so.

He then just shook his head and looked down at the jewel still in his hand while he finally answered her saying, "This is a much sought after jewel that many men have lost their lives trying to find. It's known as the Eye of the Storm. On account of it once being protected by a tempest which killed any sailor who ever tried to go through it to find this precious sapphire."

Zelena looked at it as she replied, "Who could blame them. It's quite exquisite really. A very fitting gift for a pirate. If some all-powerful tempest has killed anyone who's ever gone after it, then how did whoever gave this to you wind up with it?"

"The Eye is no gift," Hook crossly responded, while he looked between all those who continued standing with him. "It's been given to me… as a warning. From the daughter of the of my former Kingdom's immoral ruler, as well as someone once close to Captain Silver… the man who owned Liam and me when we were sla… slaves. Silver died chasing after this jewel as did the rest of his crew. Mostly because of the deal Liam made with Hades so that he and I would survive the storm. Though obviously… I didn't know it at the time. This jewel was thrown into the deal to tempt Liam into saying yes. He later traded it to a Captain within the Royal Navy for our commissions, allowing us to finally be free from slavery. And as far as I know, the Captain then gave the Eye to the King who had paid a number of men handsomely so they would seek it out for him. Now… now they're here in Storybrooke. I don't know how, but… I thought they were dead. Long dead. They should be."

"Who, Killian?" his wife then asked out of concern for him, briefly glancing over at her parents and their friends, seeing the same looks of concern on their faces as well. "Who's here and what do they want?"

While Killian wearily kept his eyes on the Eye still in his hand, he continued, "The King's daughter's name was Angelica, or Angel for short. Although after what I did… after I murdered her father and destroyed the Kingdom just after I had become a pirate, she eventually came to be known throughout many kingdoms as the Angel of Death. She herself became a ruthless villain, alongside her husband, Leftenant Jim Hawkins."

David looked at him in surprise as he questioned, "Jim Hawkins? As in… Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island?"

"I've never heard of such an island," their friend said in confusion, not knowing David was talking about a character from a classic novel by the same title.

"No, I mean… never mind," the Prince quickly attempted to explain until he changed his mind just wanting him to go on. "Sorry. Go on with what you were telling us."

Hook nodded, then spoke again in frustration saying, "Hawkins was also a part of the Royal Navy as Liam and I were. He rose up quickly within the ranks until he too became a Leftenant. But before that, he was nothing more than a cabin boy under Captain Silver's guidance and protection. I didn't know him all too well, but I know he and Silver were close until Silver had been forced to flee from being captured by soldiers within the Royal Navy for murder, treason, robbery, among other crimes I'm sure. But from what Liam told me, Silver had told the boy not to fall into a life a piracy like he had, and Hawkins eventually came to enlist within the Royal Navy instead after he had met Angelica some time later. Then, he and Angelica… the King's daughter, fell in love and eventually they married. I killed the King while they were on their honeymoon."

Regina looked at him while she asked, "Why did you kill him, then work so hard to destroy your own Kingdom?"

"Because… King Driscoll was the reason why Liam died all those years ago," Killian answered sadly, as he looked down in shame of all he'd done. "The reason why I became a pirate was so I could make him pay for taking my brother from me. He sent Liam and me on our first journey to Neverland, on a mission to retrieve a vast amount of dreamshade, after telling Liam it contained medicinal properties that could cure any ill. We believed him until we learned the hard way our King lied to us. I was angry and I needed to make him pay. So I became a pirate, took the Jolly Roger as my own ship, then invaded Longbourn… our Kingdom, took as much from them as my crew and I could to hurt them, and murdered our King. Back then, I didn't care how wrong I was, or who I hurt. I had already become the villain I used to be."

"And now… this Angel of Death and Jim Hawkins have somehow survived all these years seeking vengeance against you for killing her father…" Emma replied upon beginning to finally understand why her husband saw the Eye of the Storm as a warning, until he abruptly cut in again.

He quickly added, "And for killing Silver as well. The storm that night might have actually done so, but it was because of my brother's deal with Hades that their souls then were handed over to that bastard in exchange for this stone and our freedom. And because they are unable to make Liam pay…"

Snow finished for him, "You're the one left standing for them to punish instead."

"Aye," Killian responded, while he raised the sapphire to study it as he continued. "When I searched for the Eye to steal it back, I never found it. To the King… Angelica was his angel, so he must have given it to her as a wedding gift. And now she and her husband have left it here for me as a warning… that they wish me dead for my many crimes I committed against them. It has ties to them both and those I killed."

"No, Killian," the Savior steadfastly answered, although he could easily see her fear for him in her eyes when he looked over at her again. "We will find them."

He nodded, then laid the stone back in the box it had been given to him in while he softly replied, "I hope so. I'm sorry my past and cruel misdeeds have caught up with me again. I never thought…"

Killian suddenly gasped before he could finish, when a burning pain suddenly shot through his hand and he lifted it before them, as a black spot then mysteriously burned into his palm. Emma grabbed him and wrapped her arms around her husband to help keep him steady while David grabbed his hand so he and the others could get a better look at whatever was happening to him.

Emma quickly asked out of fear, "Killian… What the hell did the Eye just do to you?"

"In our world, it's what we pirates call the black spot," the Captain fretfully responded to her. "It's a beacon of sorts. So the enemies of those who've been marked will always be able to find them no matter how far they run or where they try to hide. The Angel of Death and Leftenant Hawkins have somehow found the magic needed to conjure such a curse and embedded it within the Eyes so that when I touched it…"

"You would become marked the moment you put it down again," Zelena finished. "It's clever really. Cruel, but clever."

Killian nodded, "Aye. Indeed it is. It appears, I've been marked for death."

Emma shook her head and retorted, "Then we'll find a way to rid you of it. There's always a way, Killian. We will stop them."


	5. Chapter 5

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Five

Centuries ago…

As the sun had begun to set one night within Longbourn, Captain Humphreys of the Royal Navy, the former Captain of the Jewel of the Realm before he had since been promoted to the Captain of the Guard who protected King Driscoll, entered the castle upon being summoned there by orders of the King himself and made his way towards the throne room as quickly as he was able. When he finally arrived after having ridden from his home at the far end of the Kingdom on horseback, he knocked on the doors of the Great Hall and walked in once the guards standing watch opened up to let him inside.

King Driscoll was allowing his court jester to entertain him while he waited for the Captain of his Guard to arrive and it was clear to the rest of the soldiers and the King's people he surrounded himself with that he was incredibly bored. However, as soon as he saw the man he had asked to see approach him upon his arrival, he immediately dismissed everyone within the room including his other guards by demanding they all leave the Great Hall so he could speak with his Captain of the Guard in private.

Driscoll spoke first once he stepped down from his throne to greet the man with his arms out to embrace him as he called out, "Captain Humphreys! Forgive me for summoning you here and taking you away from your wife and your newborn child. Tell me… is it a boy, or a girl?"

The Captain embraced his King back upon them having become close friends over the years despite their stations, then he replied, "She is a very beautiful and healthy little girl, Your Majesty. Thank you."

"Congratulations, Captain," the King responded to him and patted him on the back, then guided the solider back towards his throne so he could sit back down. "My own daughter is the love of my life and I would give her anything her heart desires. I know that I have promised you a brief leave of absence from your post so you could care for your family. But I must ask you if you've received any word from Captain Jones since he and his crew left on their mission. It's been four days since they've left for Neverland. Surely Jones would have sent word of some kind by now. Something to tell us why there's been a delay, or if they ran into any trouble."

"It's like I warned you, Your Majesty…" Humphreys began to answer. "You sent Captain Jones and his crew to a new land within a realm barely known to anyone except you and I, the man who arrived in our Kingdom seeking help until you had him killed for that sextant of which he carried leading back to this island, and those who simply believe Neverland to only be an imaginary world from their dreams. And now of course Captain Jones and the rest of his crew as well. And you sent them there to this unholy land so they could collect the poison this man said had killed a few of his friends before he managed to escape. Who knows the kind of trouble they might have run into on this most important of missions, Your Majesty. But Captain Jones is a good man and an even better soldier within your Royal Navy. He will not let you down. My only concern was when he had asked his brother, the younger Jones to be his Leftenant for this mission. I have to say, I am not certain why you ever promoted him."

King Driscoll finally sat down on his throne again and looked on at the man now standing in front of him while he replied, "You said yourself he was a good soldier and that he had been working hard to work his way up in the ranks."

The Captain nodded and let out a sigh in frustration, then he responded, "Yes… But he's always had trouble with authority. He finally stopped his drinking habits, but he continues to question certain orders. He is a good man and a fine soldier, who will eventually accept as he's been told to do. But believe me, if he is to learn that we have deceived his brother about what we really sent them to this Neverland to collect…"

"You're worried that their possible delay is because the younger Jones might refuse to follow his orders?" Driscoll questioned. "Surly his brother won't allow such disloyalty. Not even from him. I've met Captain Jones. On more than one occasion, including a few of the balls I've thrown on behalf of my daughter. He is every bit as loyal to me and to the protection of our Kingdom as you are, Captain. He even became close friends with my Angel. Were it not for her meeting Leftenant Hawkins, I daresay my daughter might have eventually come to fall in love with Jones instead. And I do believe he was quite smitten by her."

"Of course, Your Majesty," the Captain of the Guard answered with agreement. "But I'm guessing you don't remember meeting Leftenant Jones. Not even when you promoted him?"

The King shook his head while he callously replied, "I can't say I do. Only what little you've told me about him, and barely that. He clearly doesn't share the same quality of character his brother does."

Captain Humphreys then responded sternly, "I never would have offered the boy a commission aboard my ship years ago were it not for Jones managing to snatch the Eye of the Storm from the tempest that protected it. He insisted I offer his brother a commission as well and I knew I couldn't refuse if I were to deliver the Eye to you… Your Majesty. I just hope I'm wrong and that it won't be long before Jones and his crew return with the poison that will allow us to destroy our enemies without ever having to fight a war again."

"As do I," King Driscoll answered, then returned to talking to him about his wife's health and his child born only hours ago. "So… what name have you given your daughter then?"

"Christine," Humphreys stated. "And my wife and I couldn't be happier."


	6. Chapter 6

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Six

In Longbourn…

Two days later, after the Jolly Roger remained beyond the port south of the Kingdom's castle as per their Captain's orders, the ship that once sailed under command of the leaders within the Royal Navy now sailed under a pirate's command, as it finally entered the port with her cannons raised, loaded, and prepared to fire while the crew waited for their orders. And when Captain Jones came up on deck from within his quarters, fully dressed in his new apparel, but with a leather black vest on instead of the dark red one he'd been wearing the night his first mate had last seen him, he was fully prepared to start the war that would soon gain him his revenge against the immoral King and their corrupt Kingdom.

"Gentlemen!" Killian began to call out to his men who surrounded him as he turned to face them head on like he'd seen his brother do a number of times during their many voyages they sailed together. "We've come to the point of no return. Once this war begins, there'll be no going back to the lives we've known up 'til now. Some of you must think me rash for seeking revenge on our King whom we were sworn to serve and to protect. And some of you must believe what I ask of you is going to get us all killed. Which is why… This is your last chance to decide if you are truly up to becoming a pirate… as we will all soon become wanted criminals. I will do as I must whether you join me or not. I can't ensure all of you will survive this battle. I can't ensure any of you will, or even myself. And if you're caught and arrested, you will be hung by your necks from the gallows. But I choose to fight for the sake of my brother. I will do whatever I must to murder the man who stole him from me. You all now must ask yourselves why you're choosing to fight should you continue to stand with me. Be it out of loyalty to your former Captain, for greed, or whatever else. Just don't do this out of any loyalty to me. I may be your Captain now, but only because the rank fell to me in succession. Until I can prove myself to be even half the man and Captain my brother was, none of you owe me the same loyalty. I only ask that you give me a chance until I earn the right to be Captain. So what say you? Will you trust in me now in this dark hour? Do so… and I will strive to be as good of a Captain as Captain Liam Jones was. Will you fight with me to avenge him?"

"Aye!" Mr. Bombay, Jones' new first mate was the first to cry out in loyalty to the man he served before the older Jones, then everyone else aboard the Jolly Roger joined him in a chant much like before in unison. "Aye! Aye! Captain Jones! Captain Jones! Captain Jones! Captain Jones!"

Killian nodded, then turned and swiftly ran up to the upper deck to take his place behind the ship's wheel as he prepared to bring the Jolly Roger in close to the mainland before he continued, "Then let us show King Driscoll and the people of this Kingdom who we are, and the power the Jolly Roger now holds. Open fire on the walls surrounding the castle! And open fire on its walls, except for the tallest tower. It's where the King will run to hide. We will destroy this castle and take everything they own. Fire the cannons!"

At last, upon their orders being given by their Captain, Killian Jones' band of pirates immediately began to fire the ship's cannons, as cannonballs and chain shots all blew into the port, crashing through the castle's outer walls and into the castle walls as well, alerting the King's guards, soldiers, and the people that Longbourn had fallen under attack.

The siege raged on until finally cannon fire could take the pirates no further, so Killian pulled his cutlass from its scabbard and raised it high, as did each of the men aside from his first mate and the few others the Captain had tasked to remain aboard the Jolly Roger to keep her protected. Then, he led the rest of the men ashore and together they fought anyone who stood in their way.

Once the pirates cut a good number of the soldiers within the Royal Navy down, Killian stealthily slipped through them as well as his own men so he could sneak off while he made his way to one of the tower walls… the tower in which the King's own bedchamber resided up at the top where the pirate captain knew Driscoll would have run to in order to hide and remain protected far away from the war now taking place all around him.

Carefully, Captain Jones began to scale the wall beneath the top of the tower after he fired a grappling hook and connecting rope from the crossbow which he pulled from around his back, then continued on the rest of the way using his feet and his bare hands to climb the tower up to the window. And when he finally broke inside the castle through the tower's window, he arrived just as the Captain of the King's Guard rushed into Driscoll's room to make sure that his King was still safe.

Upon seeing who suddenly appeared before them, King Driscoll and Captain Humphreys stared at the man they did not know until now he was the invaders' Captain, or that the older Jones was now dead in shock, especially upon seeing his new appearance and then Humphreys called out in question, "Leftenant Jones… is that you? You're the one responsible for this invasion?! But why? After all your King and I have done…"

"What you've done... Captain… Your Majesty… was task my brother with a mission to journey to a cursed island, so we could retrieve a plant known as dreamshade..." Killian darkly responded out of anger, as he swiftly pulled his new cutlass from its scabbard once again and raised it in front of him, while Humphreys kept his own sword raised high when he moved to stand between his King and the threat before them. "…a plant which we learned early on contained not magic potent enough to cure any ill as you claimed, but a deadly poison with the power to obliterate all your enemies in one fell swoop. The very poison… which killed Liam because he believed in your lies!"

"Captain Jones is dead?" the King asked nervously, as he continued to stare at the pirate still in front of him while he took a few steps back in fear.

The pirate captain turned his eyes on Driscoll while he coldly answered, "Aye. Liam cut a small branch of the dreamshade and cut himself with one of its thorns in order to try to prove to me that our King… that you, Your Majesty… wasn't so ruthless like the island's only inhabitant claimed you to be upon warning us of the plant's true power. Like I feared you might be when I listened to the boy's warning. And it turns out, the boy was right and because of you, Liam is now dead! So now, I've become what I have to be, in order to avenge my brother and to make all those who killed him pay. A pirate. And it's Captain Jones now. So tell me, Your Majesty… Did you know the true power of that plant when you sent us to Neverland to retrieve it for you? Did you plan to use that poison to wipe out this Kingdom's enemies?"

When neither man spoke again, Killian angrily shouted, "Answer me! Did you know?!"

"Yes," Humphreys at last replied to him snidely, then lifted his blade higher and stepped closer in hope of getting the pirate to make the first charge against him. "We knew the dreamshade was poisonous. Our Kingdom is small and destitute in comparison to so many others surrounding us. And their armies are more powerful than ours could ever be. But with that dreamshade, we could have destroyed them all and became the wealthiest Kingdom that others from all throughout this realm would have come to seeking aid in their wars. Seeking our riches we would have stolen from our enemies. Seeking to merge their Kingdoms with ours. Sending you on that mission was for the good of our Kingdom. For the good of our people. A single death among you would have been an acceptable loss if we were to gain all of that. Even if that death was your brother's. Only… I do wish it had been you."

"Aah!" Killian screamed out when he could no longer contain his anger, as he suddenly charged the Captain who had first offered him and Liam commissions aboard the Jewel of the Realm a few years before, while their swords clashed together.

King Driscoll rushed back against the farthest wall away from the two men fighting since he knew there was nowhere else for him to run to, on account of the pirate captain's men now having gotten inside the castle while they continued to pillage and plunder all the riches they wanted from his Kingdom and his people. And he just watched with dread as the fight between his closest friend and the former Lieutenant now turned pirate continued on and on, for minutes that felt more like hours.


	7. Chapter 7

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Seven

Meanwhile…

After traveling to her family's lakeside manor within the Enchanted Forest for their honeymoon, Princess Angelica and her new husband, Lieutenant Jim Hawkins of the Royal Navy spent the last six days and nights together in marital bliss. Nothing could have made either of them happier. Until the sixth night, while they lay in bed in each other's' arms asleep, King Driscoll's daughter strangely began to dream as an uneasy feeling fell over her. In her mind, she saw her Kingdom falling under siege and of her father crying out in pain. The flashes were brief and when they vanished, the Princess immediately sat up as she gasped awake in utter terror.

Jim wearily sat up beside her upon sensing his wife's distress and hearing her gasp out in fear despite his own exhaustion from being awakened in the middle of the night, then tenderly wrapped his arms around her and asked worryingly, "Angelica… what's wrong? Was it a nightmare?"

The Princess nodded her head and then whispered, "It was horrible. My father… our Kingdom… Jim, I fear something terrible has happened. Or is happening maybe. I don't understand it, but somehow I know my nightmare wasn't just a nightmare. Only… I don't know what it was I saw exactly. Not really."

"All right… just slow down and try to stay calm," her husband answered her gently. "I'm not sure what you saw, or think you saw… but I'm sure it's only just a nightmare. Perhaps your dreams are only playing off of your feelings of insecurities. You've been a little homesick. And it's understandable of course… with how close to your father you are. I know you've tried your best to hide it from me. But I know you, Angel."

"No," she quickly responded with a shake of her head. "I'm telling you, whatever I did see was real. Longbourn is under attack and my father's in trouble. I heard him crying out. We have to go home, Jim. Tonight."

The Lieutenant turned her around to face him more directly while he took her face into his hands, then replied, "It's late… We're due to leave in two days time. If you'll just trust in me and have patience, I'm sure we'll arrive home and find that everything's just fine."

Angelica suddenly stood from the bed after she pulled away from him and cried out, "I can't wait for two days! Someone is going to murder my father!"

"Who?" Jim questioned her in concern when he stood up behind her and continued to try to calm her down. "Who do you think is going to try to kill your father and destroy our Kingdom, Angelica? Who are you so afraid of?"

"I don't know!" the Princess answered him, as she stormed out onto the balcony so she could look beyond the ocean in the direction of her Kingdom. "Okay? I just… I didn't see who it was."

All of a sudden, a stranger appeared within their bedroom behind them as he spoke out saying, "You may not, but I do."

Both of them immediately spun around to face him despite the darkness and the Lieutenant swiftly rushed towards the chair beside his side of the bed where he had left his sword leaning up against it before going to sleep, pulled it from its scabbard, grabbed his wife by her arm to pull her behind him to protect her, and raised his blade high as he shouted sternly, "Who are you? How'd you get in here?"

"Forgive me for this intrusion at such a late hour," the stranger responded, then sat down in another chair across from them, completely unfazed by the soldier's threat. "I promise you, I am no threat to you. In fact… I've come to offer you a deal. My name's Hades, Lord of the Underworld. I could prove it to you. Although one day, I would really like it if for once you mortals wouldn't ask me to. It's so… demeaning."

"You said you know who was attacking my Kingdom?" Angelica curtly replied without bothering to ask the God for any proof of what he spoke. "Please… tell me. Whatever you want…"

Jim sternly interrupted, "Angelica… what are you doing? We don't know who this man really is. He might be telling the truth, but he also might be something else. You can't just make some kind of deal because you're feeling desperate."

Hades rolled his eyes and groaned in frustration, then magicked a golden handled mirror into one of his hands to reveal the truth of what he was saying as he stated, "You can see for yourself that your Kingdom has been invaded by pirates. Just look in the mirror. But if you want to know the whole truth including the name of the man who brought this war on, you will have to do something for me in return. I can't give you something for nothing, you know."

"Why would you leave the Underworld to come here to help us?" Lieutenant Hawkins suspiciously asked him upon being skeptical of this all-powerful being's intentions.

"Because what I want from you, I can't take for myself," the God answered, then magicked a goblet of scotch into his hands to drink before he continued. "Because the Underworld is my domain, I can't harm anyone among the living. But once they're among the dead, I collect their souls. And I want the souls of these pirates winning this war raging on as we speak. I can tell you the means needed to make your enemies pay for however long it takes for you to be able to get your revenge against them. But you must kill them all for me. You will be my emissaries. The Angel of Death and her brave knight. You'll get your revenge and I'll get my souls. And if that hasn't persuaded you, I'll even sweeten the deal and get you back to your Kingdom just in time to be able to save your father."

The Princess eagerly responded, "You have a deal. I'll do what you ask."

However, her husband disagreed with her as he crossly replied to her, "Angelica… you can't. You can't become a murderer. You are a good woman."

"Lieutenant… Hawkins, is it?" Hades began to question him. "Would you not have done whatever you could if you had the chance to save the Captain who you guided you? Protected you? Even loved you like a son? As you loved him like he was your father? Would it interest you to know that one of the men responsible for Silver's death and the death of his crew, is also the one responsible for what's happening now? Because they're one in the same. This man helped incite a mutiny among the crew, then encouraged them to follow his brother's orders which led them straight into the tempest that killed them all, except the two of them."

"We are not killers," the Lieutenant adamantly answered, though there was a part of him who wanted to take Hades up on his deal upon learning what he knew to be the truth behind what really happened to Captain Silver years ago.

Angelica looked into her husband's eyes and she saw his plea in them, then she finally nodded before she turned back to the God of the Underworld again and said quietly, "Jim is right. We are not ruthless killers. We'll make our own way back. One band of pirates no matter what size they are, are hardly strong enough to destroy my father's army and my father is not a weak man. He can and will stay alive, for my sake. And if all you say is true, then we will discover the identity of this pirate captain ourselves and see to it he is brought to justice. The right way."

The God looked between them and asked, "Are you sure you won't reconsider?"

"You heard my wife," Jim responded again, just as adamantly as before. "Our answer is no. We will have justice for Longbourn, not revenge."

"I doubt it," Hades callously replied to them. "Eventually, you will come to see just how wrong you are and will regret not trusting me enough to make a deal with me. Maybe there'll be another opportunity for us to work together. Goodbye for now. I'm pretty certain I will be seeing you again soon enough."


	8. Chapter 8

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Eight

In Storybrooke…

While still aboard the Jolly Roger, Emma worryingly continued to examine the black spot covering Killian's palm for as long as he allowed her to, and she couldn't help but think about how much it looked like his hand had been charred in a fire rather than him having a mark burned deep into his skin despite his hand feeling like it had been. Charming, Snow, Regina, and Zelena, with their children still in one of their parents' arms, remained standing among them while they spoke, having begun to discuss their options so they could hopefully help their friend.

"Be careful with that," Killian then immediately stated to Regina sternly, when she reached down to pick up the gift box once again containing the sapphire now that it had been put away. "Whatever you do, don't touch it with your bare hands. Or you'll wind up with the mark too. While they might not be after you, who knows what they would do with a beacon leading right to you too."

"Don't worry… I don't plan on touching it," the Queen replied and looked back down at the gift wrap around the box. "But Zelena and I might be able to figure out a way to remove that black spot from your hand, if you'll let us take it back to my vault so we can study it further. The rest of you should see what you can do to find our new friends who've taken to hiding their faces thus far."

Snow nodded and answered, "Regina's right."

Zelena sighed as she looked down at her daughter, then responded, "It's a pity… I was actually looking forward to going out on the ocean this morning. And it started out as such a beautiful morning."

"Yes it did," Snow replied in agreement.

Before anymore could be said, Regina used her power to magic herself and her sister from the ship still docked in the harbor to just outside of her vault within the cemetery. Upon their arrival, the sorceress and the former Wicked Witch entered the mausoleum and pushed the crypt open to reveal the staircase leading inside of her vault, then together they walked down until they came into the main room where Regina stored most of her spell books, potions, and magical artifacts, where they hoped to be able to find something that could remove the beacon on Hook's hand to help their friend.

"So… do you have any idea what we're supposed to be looking for?" Zelena asked once the younger sister placed the small box down on top of a stack of trunks, then carefully opened it again to pull out the Eye of the Storm using one of her tools she could use to hold it up with to be able to examine it. "Any, dark specs of magic… a strange glow coming off it aside from the already shimmering effect of the jewel…"

"Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to be that easy," Regina answered her, as she raised her free hand to the stone and used her power again to try to get any sense of dark magic within it. "This stone has most definitely been infused by someone's magic. And it's… familiar too, but I can't really identify it."

While continuing to hold her daughter in one arm, Zelena picked up a potion bottle and responded, "Then let's run some tests on it. Where should we start?"

The Queen lowered her hand and ignited a flame within her palm, then Regina lowered the sapphire into the flame while she replied, "We're going to see if it's destructible, or at the very least… if we can burn out the magic affecting Hook."

"Are you not worried that what you're doing might be hurting the pirate?" Zelena asked sternly as her sister worked.

Regina stopped what she was doing out of concern and then she answered, "You may be right."

She looked again at the Eye as she added, "Besides, this sapphire doesn't appear to be so easy to destroy just like I suspected."

"Perhaps… I might be of some service to you," Gold then said when he appeared within the doorway upon walking down inside the vault. "Forgive me for intruding. I used one of my crystal balls to see where I might find you. I was hoping we could discuss something. I'm looking for some advice."

"I'm afraid Zelena and I are both a little busy right now," the younger sister responded in frustration, as she looked up at Gold who appeared in front of her after he walked further into the room to stand among them, while she continued to hold the jewel in front of her eyes to keep examining it.

The Dark One nodded in understanding, then also began to examine the Eye Regina had now set down on top of the trunk again himself as he replied, "Yes… I see. What is that you've got there? An uncut sapphire. It's really quite a remarkable stone."

His former student nodded as she answered, "Hook called it the Eye of the Storm. This sapphire was something known to him from his long ago past. Sadly, it's come back along with a couple of his enemies whom he, Emma, Snow, and David are all out looking for as we work down here… seeing if we can't find a way to rid Hook of the black spot this jewel marked him with thanks to these said enemies. Actually… it's rather fortunate you're here. You can help us… if you wouldn't mind?"

"The Curse of the Black Spot," Gold responded, upon recognizing what it was affecting his former enemy. "I know of this mark. Not well, but upon being the target of revenge by one of the most dreaded pirates for over two hundred years… and thanks to him a number of other pirates as well, I did a lot of research trying to find ways to rid myself of my enemies. I came across a book which contained a chapter about this curse. You're saying that when Hook touched this stone, he became marked with the black spot?"

"We are," Zelena replied again. "Do you have an idea that might help us to remove it from him? Otherwise, he's a walking beacon for these enemies who've done this to him and who knows when they'll make themselves known. For all we know, they may target people he loves to hurt him before they finish their revenge by killing him too."

The Dark One nodded and then he answered, "Agreed. I don't remember if there was something in the book about a cure for this curse or not, but I can return and look through my shop for it with Belle's help to see if we can't find it again. I'll see what I can do, of course."

He lowered his eyes to look down at the Eye of the Storm again, then slowly waved his hand over it as he began to sense the magic projecting from within it before he spoke again austerely saying, "I'm sensing a great power within this stone that I've sensed before, only… it isn't power that belongs to the Eye itself."

"I was thinking the same thing," Regina responded, out of concern upon studying the cross look in Gold's eyes. "I couldn't quite figure out why I recognized the feeling I got from the Eye when I did as you did, but from the look in your eyes… I sense that you do."

"Indeed I do," he replied in frustration. "The power that allowed for these villains to curse Hook was given to them from Hades. They must have known him before the God's death."

Zelena's eyes darkened as well, while Regina looked at her sister in concern, then the Wicked Witch said crossly, "Just when I thought I was finally past grieving for the good part of him I loved, the evil side of him has come back to haunt me all over again."

Regina laid her hand on her shoulder as she attempted to comfort her, until Zelena shook her head and shrugged her off, then continued, "I'm fine. If Hades gave them the power to curse Hook with this black spot spell, or whatever it is… then God only knows what other kind of power they have. And seeing as they've been alive for all these years like Hook has, I'm guessing not because of the power Neverland possessed allowing the pirate to live so long… that Hades gave them something to keep them alive too. Or at the very least, may have showed them a path to get some kind of magical artifact or spell that could. I take that there are such things back within our worlds?"

"Indeed," Gold answered her. "Though they are most certainly nearly impossible to come by, unless they did have help from a God just as you said. You must let the others know what we've learned so far and then you must find whoever these enemies are. They must be stopped and either locked away where they cannot escape, or… killed. Especially for Hook's sake. His life is most certainly in much greater danger than you all have feared. I'm not sure how, but you can be certain I'm right. Power of that kind… of that magnitude, it isn't without the highest and most painful of prices required for one who wields it to pay, as well as for their enemies too."

"We'll go find him and Emma then," Regina responded worryingly, then nodded at her sister before the two of them turned to leave, until the former Evil Queen turned back to Gold again. "Thank you, Gold. For your help. Hook and Emma will be grateful."

He nodded as well, then the two women left the vault, while Gold magicked himself away to return to his shop so he could begin, knowing what was at stake. Thankfully, Belle was already there with their son, and together they began to search his books and things for anything that might help Hook.


	9. Chapter 9

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Nine

After Snow and David left the harbor with their daughter and son in law, both of whom then split off from them to begin their search in the woods for the new strangers to their world looking for a fight once again, the Prince and Princess returned to town and walked into Granny's hoping to find some of the dwarfs where they suspected they might be getting coffee to help with their hangovers from the night before, before they headed down into the mines to work. Thankfully, Grumpy was inside and sitting up at the bar between Happy, Dopey, and Bashful.

The Charmings walked over to join them as the dwarfs turned towards them when Snow called out, "Leroy… Happy… Bashful… Dopey… We're really glad you're here. Are the others already down in the mines?"

Grumpy took another gulp of his coffee Granny had set down in front of him a few minutes earlier, then looked between his friends as he crossly responded, "Yeah… they're the ones who wussed out last night and didn't drink nearly as much as we did. The rest of us here are a bit hungover. Why?"

"Bashful, I'm surprised you out of everyone would have had so much to drink," David said as he clasped the shyer of the dwarfs on his shoulder.

"They dared me to until I couldn't refuse," he replied, then glared over at Dopey who began to laugh at him without making a sound.

The Prince and former sheriff sighed, then spoke again in frustration while he looked between them saying, "Listen… I realize you guys have been busy in the mines working hard to find more diamonds we can hopefully refine into more fairy dust ever since the Black Fairy destroyed them all. And I know that the drinking helps you after a long day's work, but right now we really need you guys to pull yourselves together so you can all begin a search party looking for two complete strangers to our town. We don't know what they look like other than Hook, but we know they are dangerous and they're looking to hurt him. They're here somewhere. It's important. Do you think you can pull yourselves together to help?"

Happy stood up and quickly took another big gulp of his own coffee and then he answered, "Hey… we may get drunk at nights and we may be hungover more often than we probably should be, but we're never too drunk or hungover to help you guys out or the rest of our friends when there's trouble around."

"What Happy's trying to say, is that of course we're in," Grumpy responded, then he smiled in eager anticipation. "So where would you like us to start?"

"Start with finding your brothers, then search the mines," Snow replied. "And if you finish down there… if you don't hear from us beforehand to tell you something different, then head on out into the woods. Emma and Killian are already out there searching. David and I are going to drop Neal off with some of the fairies, then ask Blue and the others to see if they can help us. We'll do a quick search of the town and after that, we'll join our daughter and Hook too."

David nodded, then added, "Please be careful. The mines are vast and dark. And we believe that these villains are dangerous."

At last, they turned to leave the diner and as soon as Dopey, Bashful, and Happy stepped outside, they took off running towards one of the mines' entrances. Leroy started to follow after them, while Snow and David walked out behind him, until the grumpy dwarf stopped and stared in shock when he suddenly came face to face with someone he never thought he would ever see again, as she flew down in front of them, then swiftly made herself grow to normal size.

The fairy then smiled at him as she whispered shyly, "Hello, Dreamy."

"Oh… and Your Majesties," she quickly added as she curtsied to them upon seeing them as well.

"Sister Astrid?" Snow stated out of surprise as well upon seeing the Pink Fairy again after so long has passed since the last time they had seen her, then immediately handed Neal over to her husband so she could pull Nova into a hug. "I mean… it's Nova again now, isn't it? I see you've come to be a full time fairy again and have given up being a nun. You look so great."

Grumpy kept staring at her as he answered out of agreement, "Yeah… you do."

The fairy smiled, then she responded, "Thank you, Dreamy. Oh… or do you prefer Leroy?"

The dwarf suddenly cleared his throat in embarrassment once he realized he'd been staring at the fairy he had fallen in love with long ago, when Snow finally nudged his arm with her own in order to break him out of his stupor, then he quickly replied, "Actually… it's Grumpy now. But ah… you can call me Leroy instead. If you'd like."

"I would," Nova answered him.

"I'd like that too," he quickly continued.

David at last looked over at his wife upon seeing the chemistry between Nova and Grumpy as he smiled at her, then regretfully interrupted their friends out of concern over what was going on saying, "We're sorry, but we're kind of in an emergency right now. We can walk and talk at the same time on our way to speak with Blue and the other fairies. I'm sure they'll all be really happy to see you, Nova."

While the Pink Fairy and Grumpy began to walk behind Snow and David as they made their way towards the church, the Prince spoke out again while he asked, "So… what brings you back to Storybrooke? We haven't seen you since Pan's curse brought us all back to the Enchanted Forest for a time. Before that, actually. You kind of disappeared before Regina's curse was even broken. It is really good to see you."

"Thank you," she sincerely answered him. "It's really nice to see you all again too. And yes… I did disappear on you. And I'm so sorry for doing that. It's just… I really started struggling in my life for a little while. I was a terrible nun and the whole candle disaster… until Leroy here fixed everything for me, which was so kind… The candle disaster wasn't the last time I messed up so badly. I almost ruined everything for us fairies a few more times too, and I eventually fell into a deep bout of depression. Which is really not like me at all, since I know I'm unusually and annoyingly bubbly most of the time. I guess that was in part because of the Evil Queen's curse. But I finally just holed myself up within the church away from everyone. I didn't wish to burden anyone with my problems. Blue helped me the best she could and she even asked me to talk to Archie regularly. He always came to the church, since I didn't wish to go out and he helped me a lot. I begged him not to tell anyone where I was. I couldn't bear to face anyone else for so long. Not even after the curse was finally broken and I remembered who I was. It wasn't until we were all brought back to the Enchanted Forest that I was free at last to become a fairy again, and I traveled everywhere throughout all the realms trying to help as many people as I could. I never became a Fairy Godmother like I thought I wanted to be, but I eventually realized I didn't have to be one in order to help people. And soon… I found I was finally happy again."

"But I missed all of you," Nova continued again after she took a moment to breathe between words. "I especially missed you, Leroy. I still think about that night we spent watching the fireflies on Firefly Hill in the Enchanted Forest."

She paused again as she turned back to look ahead of her towards Snow and David, then added, "So… I came back home. How about all of you? How is everyone?"

Snow glanced back at her while they all continued walking and she responded, "You've missed a lot. Like right now… we're on our way to talk to Blue and the fairies to help us find a couple of enemies from Killian's past before they can hurt him."

"Killian is our daughter's husband," the Princess quickly said again upon realizing that Nova hadn't ever met him. "They married a little over a year ago now. And they're so happy. At least when we haven't been busy fighting villains and other things."

"And we really need to find these villains," Regina suddenly called out to them as she and Zelena quickly approached them just as they were about the walk up the steps leading towards the church upon their arrival, while everyone stopped walking to face their friends.

When she saw the Pink Fairy again, Regina smiled at her as she stated, "Hello, Nova. It's good to see you again."

The fairy looked at her sternly, having heard Regina had changed and was no longer a villain herself, but never having seen as much for herself, then she replied, "And you, Your Majesty."

"Forgive me for interrupting here, but we're kind of pressed for time, remember?" the former Wicked Witch then cut in out of frustration.

"What's wrong, Zelena?" Snow questioned worryingly when she looked between her and her sister. "Regina?"

Zelena sighed and then answered, "It turns out that our two villains had help. Not only to live for so long, but also the kind that allowed for them to curse the pirate with that black spot now burned into his hand. Help of the worst kind too. Hades."

David and Snow looked at the sisters in disbelief as he curtly retorted, "Hades? You mean… before our journey down into the Underworld?"

"Yes," Regina responded crossly. "There's more too, but we'll explain the rest once we find Hook and Emma. Why are we here at the nuns' church?"

"We were going to ask them to help us to find these villains faster than we would without their help, as well as to ask a few of them to look after Neal," Snow replied, then looked at Zelena again while she continued to hold Robin in her arms too. "I'm sure they would be happy to look after Robin too. They've done so before."

The red haired woman answered sternly, "I remember. Come on. We need to hurry. Hook is in more danger than we initially thought."

However, Nova quickly spoke up again saying, "The rest of you go on to find Emma and her husband then. Grumpy and I will talk to Blue and the others about meeting you out in the woods to help you find these enemies. And we'll make sure the children are taken care of too, of course."

Snow thanked the Pink Fairy, as she carefully handed Neal over to her, while Zelena reluctantly gave Robin over to Leroy. She then threatened the dwarf that if anything at all happened to her, then she would hold him personally responsible. Snow told him to pay her no mind, then together, Snow, David, Regina, and Zelena all started towards the woods in a hurry so they could hopefully find Emma and Killian before the Captain's enemies did."


	10. Chapter 10

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Ten

Back in the Kingdom of Longbourn…

At last, Captain Humphreys believed he had managed to overpower the naval Lieutenant turned pirate a number of times while their battle raged on as their swords continued to clash together. However, much to his surprise, Killian finally outwitted the older man when Humphreys forced him onto his back against the floor beneath them and attempted to kill the pirate, until the new Captain released one of his hands' hold on the man's sword about to kill him, struggling with the other in order to keep the sharpened blade from entering his chest, then shakily reached down to his belt to pull up a small dagger, which he suddenly thrust upward deep into Humphreys' stomach to end his life. King Driscoll, who remained standing against the wall behind him, could only stare down upon his friend now lying dead in front of him, and the man who murdered him in shock.

Once the naval officer fell on top of the pirate upon his body falling lifeless, Killian shoved Humphreys off of him, then sat up again while he glared up at the King, who quickly ran forward and bent down to pick up his Captain's fallen sword so he could try to defend himself when the pirate moved against him. Driscoll thought about trying to run, but he knew his castle was being overrun with the rest of Jones' band of pirates who were killing off the rest of the soldiers within his Guard, and that he would never get through alive. So, he stayed figuring it would be better to take his chances against one man instead of dozens.

"I think we both know you don't have it in you to fight me," Killian finally said to him darkly, continuing to look into the cruel man's eyes while he rose back to his feet and stood in front of Driscoll. "You're nothing but a coward who remains here in your bloody castle, safe upon your throne, while you allow all the rest of your men do your dirty work for you. Just like you required of my brother and me. Tell me, Your Majesty… when did you come to be so corrupt and immoral? Why did you have to choose my brother for your mission to that cursed land?! All for deadly poison!"

"I did it for the good of my Kingdom," Driscoll coldly answered, keeping the sword now in his hands raised before him. "But you wouldn't know anything about protecting that which you love. Or who. You didn't protect your Captain, did you?"

All of a sudden, the King swung his sword high against the pirate captain before Killian could completely avoid being struck by it, as the blade sliced open a deep gash along his right cheek which would eventually become a permanent scar. However, Killian dodged it before his enemy could cause him anymore harm, then swiftly ripped the weapon from the King's hands as he knocked it to the floor and immediately plunged his own cutlass straight through Driscoll's heart, causing the weaker man to gasp in anguish while he stared at the Captain in shock until he too fell to the floor dead.

Killian stared down into his lifeless eyes with darkness in his own while he spoke cruelly saying, "You stole the only person I had left in this world. Now I've taken your life and destroyed your Kingdom. You ought to be grateful your daughter's not here too. But if I should see her, she'll be joining you soon enough, you bastard!"

With that said, the pirate turned and walked away, leaving his body and the naval Captain's body behind to rot away or to burn to ash and ruin like what little remained of Longbourn Castle. Killian then ordered his men to raid the King's treasure vault and to take everything precious or of any worth, while he searched for the Eye of the Storm that had been the cost paid to the King for his freedom from slavery. Unfortunately, he never found it and wouldn't see it again until two hundred years later.

Present day, in Storybrooke once again…

When they left the Jolly Roger and the harbor upon splitting up from the Savior's parents so they could begin their own search in the woods for the new threats to their town, Emma walked alongside her husband holding his hook in her hand while Killian talked with her more about the terrible deeds he committed that led up to his enemies coming there now seeking revenge because she asked him to, though it pained him to do so. Not just because he was ashamed, which he most certainly was, but because there was always a small part of him which feared one day there would be an act of cruelty from his past that the woman he loved so deeply wouldn't ever be able to forgive him for. And he feared that what he spoke of to her now might be too much.

Once he nearly finished telling Emma of how he had killed the Angel's father and his former King, he stopped walking for a moment, then whispered shamefully, "…And then, I killed him, Emma. I ran my cutlass deep into his chest and I felt nothing. No pity for the father whom I had just murdered out of my own grief and anger, yet no sense of satisfaction or relief either. Killing King Driscoll didn't bring Liam back, nor did it help to ease my pain from losing him. I hated myself for becoming that villain and yet… And yet it was already too late for me. I couldn't turn back. So, I remained a pirate. Remained a villain and I only became worse over time. I cannot ever erase all I've done."

"We've been through this before," Emma gently replied, as she turned around to face him and lovingly wrapped her arms around him to hold her true love so she could try to offer him some small comfort. "You can't erase your past, Killian, but you have done the hardest thing any person can do. Especially for a villain like the man you used to be before I met you. You changed."

"It's funny…" Killian then stated after he released a soft chortle. "Your father said the very same thing to me the night that I asked him for your hand in marriage."

She smiled up at him as she responded, "He told me you were old fashioned for asking him, but he was also quite impressed with you and the things you said to him that night. He was impressed with everything you did that day. And very proud of you. He couldn't deny that you're not the man you were any longer, Killian. And if my father sees that… well then, you know you've definitely become a man who is so much better than you have ever been able to believe about yourself. And I truly love you. Not just because you've changed, but for so many things and nothing you've done in your past will ever change that. I promise you. And for one night… if it will help you at all, I will spend all night telling you everything about you that I love. I mean it. I will."

Killian looked down at her while he smiled as well, then he leaned in close in order to kiss her before he pulled back again and answered lovingly, "I became the luckiest man in the world the moment I met you that day, Swan. Thank you for saving me from that man I was for so long. Thank you for seeing past my evils and loving me despite being that man."

"This naïve woman may see past your evils, Leftenant Jones… But we don't and we never will," the Angel of Death retorted cruelly, as she and Lieutenant Hawkins suddenly stepped out into the open after having heard a little of their conversation to make themselves known. "Does she truly know who you really are?"

"Angelica… Leftenant Hawkins…" Killian uttered in worry upon seeing his enemies from so long ago appear before him, while he instinctively attempted to pull his wife protectively behind him even though Emma fought against his efforts to protect her, as she stayed right by her husband's side in order to be able to protect him as well.

The Savior kept her eyes resolutely on the strangers before them as she called out, "I know exactly who Killian is. Both the man I fell in love with and married, and the man he used to be long ago. The villain who I'm guessing haunts your dreams after all he did to you. What he did to you both. Believe me, I know how that feels and I'm so sorry for what happened. But my husband isn't that villain anymore. He is a good man and a hero to everyone in this town. So if you try to hurt him, you won't just have to deal with me, lady… You'll have to deal with this entire town and there are a lot of people here with powerful magic. I promise you… we can make you regret thinking you can come here seeking revenge against the man I love."

Lieutenant Hawkins chortled cruelly and then he replied, "You and the people in this strange world aren't the only ones with powerful magic on your side. We have possession of some of our own. And we've stayed alive this long because of it despite all our enemies have ever done to try to kill us while we've been looking for Leftenant Jones… who later became Captain Jones, then finally Captain Hook after a run in with the Dark One who cut off his hand and murdered the last woman he loved."

"Yes, Jones…" Angel continued for her own husband cruelly, as she turned her attention back to the man who murdered her father. "We've been looking for you for a very long time, all while we have learned everything thing we could about the monster you've become in your own right. So that we would be prepared to kill you when the time came. You destroyed our Kingdom. You murdered my father! I don't care about what kind of man you think you've become. You're still the slave you were when you first knew my Jim."

"You only became a Leftenant in the Royal Navy because of your brother's merits and because you were under his protection," Hawkins said again just as cruelly in order to hurt Killian as much as he and the Angel possibly could, before they made any kind of move against him to strike him down. "But eventually he too was killed because of you. Wasn't he?"

Killian's eyes darkened and he clenched his jaw while the villains still before him and his wife spoke, then at last he shamefully responded, "Aye. You're right. I've never denied Liam died because of me. I've never denied the villain I myself became. But I wasn't the only one who got Liam killed, or forced either of you to become no better than I. I did kill King Driscoll. And Captain Silver died because I convinced his crew to join with Liam and me under the false belief we could all sail into that tempest and come out again unscathed. I didn't know of the deal Liam made with a God for their souls or for the Eye of the Storm."

Jim suddenly looked at the pirate again in confusion upon him mentioning Liam's deal with the God who made it possible for them to become the villains they too became for the revenge they were so close to gaining after so many years, then questioned, "What deal? You know Hades?"

"We knew him," Emma answered when she finally spoke again upon seeing from the surprise on the Lieutenant's face that he and Angelica had no idea Hades was now dead. "Until he was killed just like any other villain we've been forced to kill to protect those we love. He's dead. From the look on your faces, you clearly knew Hades too. And I'm guessing he never told you it was really because of him Silver was killed. Killian and Liam could have sailed them out of that storm that night. They could have saved them. But Hades appeared to Liam and made a deal too good for Liam to resist."

"Emma…" Killian pleaded sternly when he interrupted her before she could continue to talk about his brother's greatest sin in life, in an effort to keep the blame pointed upon himself.

The woman who loved him looked over at him in remorse, then she turned back to the strangers and enemies and continued, "It wasn't a guarantee they would have all lived through that storm. Liam was afraid for his brother. So when Hades offered him a deal that did guarantee Killian's survival as well as his own, he took it. Even at the cost of everyone else's lives. And the Eye secured their freedom from slavery. It was wrong and Liam knew that. He regretted it, even after he died and remained trapped down in the Underworld for centuries because of that decision. But Hades was the one who really killed them. Including this Captain Silver you're so fond of, Lieutenant. Your heroes were no less the monsters than you two have become. Killian isn't solely responsible for any of it! And I'll be damned before I allow either of you to hurt him anymore than he's already been hurt because of you, or these so called heroes of yours. We're done talking. If you really want this fight, then bring it."

Angelica smiled darkly while she pulled her sword she wore at her side so she could fight, eager to begin the duel she's been longing for ever since the night she found her father's cold dead body upon coming home from her honeymoon, then she haughtily replied, "I couldn't agree with you more. Come on, pirate… pull your blade. Kill us if you can. Just like you murdered my father and the Captain of his Guard."

"Not now, Angelica," Jim suddenly said however, before Killian could pull his sword, or before Emma could summon her own sword Killian had recently given to her into her hands as well, then the Lieutenant and former cabin boy swiftly grabbed his wife's arm.

"What are you doing?!" she cried out angrily. "We finally have our chance to…"

Hawkins curtly interrupted her as he glared into her eyes after they turned their backs to Emma and Killian saying, "Not now! We have to talk."

The Angel of Death glared back at Killian once more, before she just nodded at her husband reluctantly, then she retorted, "Fine. Let's talk."

"What was that about?" Emma asked once she and Killian watched the two villains run off deeper into the woods without a fight that the Angel was so clearly yearning for far more than Hawkins was. "Do you think we got through to him?"

"I think he was taken aback by the information Hades failed to disclose to them however long ago they met," Killian responded worryingly, then turned to the woman he loved and pulled her into his arms to hold her seeking comfort, as the Savior worryingly could feel his body trembling against her. "But they will be back. And better prepared for a fight. I've no doubt of that."


	11. Chapter 11

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Eleven

Back in Longbourn, two hundred years ago…

After a two day journey across the ocean, the ship carrying Princess Angelica and her husband Lieutenant Jim Hawkins back from their honeymoon finally arrived again within their Kingdom. Upon entering the harbor within the port just beyond her father's castle, the newlyweds, as well as the soldiers within the Royal Navy who traveled with them for their protection, and their ship's crew, all stared in horror at the destruction before them. Longbourn was in ruin, as their people's homes were on fire and most of the castle's stone walls were now in rubble. Very little of the structure remained standing, but as soon as the ship docked and the gangplank was lowered down, Angelica ran towards the ruins crying out for her father while Jim immediately followed after her, as did the other soldiers all with their swords raised should the invaders still be among the destruction.

Naval officers and soldiers of the King's Guard laid dead all around them as they continued to run across the grounds and through the halls, until at last the Princess rushed into her father's bedchamber still intact, as did the Lieutenant. And in the moment she found her father's body lying upon the floor with a hole deep through the center of his chest created by his killer's sword, Angelica fell to her knees and laid her own body on top of his out of grief while she screamed out in raw anger, then began to wail.

Her husband knelt above her and tenderly wrapped his arms around his love so he could pull her off her father's body to hold her against him in order to comfort her despite his own despair, like he had also felt upon learning of Captain Silver's death. When Jim looked throughout the room, he then discovered Captain Humphrey's body lying at the foot of the King's bed, also with a sword wound through his stomach and he knew that whoever had murdered their King, had also murdered the Captain of the King's Guard as well.

At last, Hawkins quietly called out to the leader of the soldiers still standing among them saying, "Captain… leave us please. Look for any survivors among the dead. Salvage whatever supplies you and your men can find and inform our people that our King is dead. Assure them we will mourn him properly, but then that we will seek the men who murdered him and destroyed our Kingdom. We will seek justice for those who have died here."

Angelica then pushed away from Jim, and glared at him as she darkly replied, "I don't want justice, Jim. Someone murdered my father and they destroyed our Kingdom! I want revenge! I want to see whoever did this suffer. And the only person who can help us get what I want is…"

"No, Angelica," the man who loved her quickly responded upon realizing exactly who she meant. "We can't take that God of the Underworld up on his deal. We cannot become like the villains who did this to our King. To your father. You are a good woman and right now, our Kingdom needs you to stand up so you can take up your father's reigns just like he would want for you to. Our people need you to lead them so we can rebuild. Not to seek out a killer we don't know the identity of. I promise you… I will do that myself with help from those who remain of our army. We will bring these killers to justice, I swear."

"We did like you wanted before!" the Princess retorted angrily, as she shoved her husband back, then stood again on her feet while she drew her husband's sword from his scabbard. "We refused Hades' offer that could have gotten us home in time to save my father because we were too afraid of becoming a villain. But I'm not afraid anymore. You keep telling me I'm good. However, it's time you see that even those who are good are capable of committing a little evil in order to seek revenge against those who have wronged them. Captain Silver was a vile man, Jim. And yet you loved him like he was your own father. You mourned for him when you learned he too had been killed in that tempest seeking the Eye of the Storm for my father in hope of earning himself a pardon for his crimes. Just because people don't always stay on the straight and narrow, it doesn't mean we aren't still good too."

The Lieutenant bowed his head out of worry while he thought about her words and then he answered, "I know what you're saying is true, Angel. And I want to help you find peace by bringing your father's killer down. I loved him too. He was my father in law and he treated me like I was worthy of being his son. But my mother… I'm not so sure she would approve. I worked hard to become a man she could be proud of. Instead of someone she was always disappointed in."

His wife reached up to his face and tenderly caressed his cheek, then she replied, "She was proud of you. And she loved you. She would understand. The men who you've seen as your fathers have all been taken from you, Jim. And the woman who loves you needs you by her side so she can make the monsters who murdered her own father pay. Please… will you help me by accepting what we must do?"

"Of course," Jim Hawkins finally agreed, despite still feeling reluctant to accept help from the God of the Dead.

"I love you," Angelica responded and leaned in to kiss him.

A few moments later, she then turned away from him and stared down sadly at her father's body again, until she at last shouted out, "Hades! If you can hear me… We accept your deal!"

The God of the Underworld soon appeared in front of them again like he had come to them before upon hearing the Princess' call and then he answered, "I knew you would accept my deal eventually. Sooner than I expected, but then you're angry. And that's good."

"What do we have to do?" the Lieutenant asked him sternly, while he glared at the God when Hades then knelt down above the Captain of the Guard as he observed the wound that killed him. "How is this supposed to work?"

"Do you have the sapphire that you're father gave to you as a wedding gift?" Hades questioned them when he raised his head to look up between Jim and the Princess. "I can enchant it so that it will curse each of the pirates with the black spot that will allow you to track them down no matter where they try to flee or hide, so long as you find them first and get them to lay their hands on it. They won't be able to hide from you again and you will be able to kill them."

Angelica looked at the all-powerful being in confusion as she asked, "That's it? It could take us years to find each and every one of these pirates you claimed murdered my father and destroyed our Kingdom. If we have to make the efforts to find them in order to curse them with this… black spot as you call it? Years that we might not have. I was expecting more."

The God of the Underworld smiled coolly as she pulled out the sapphire from within her bodice where she kept it in order to keep the precious jewel safe and handed it over to him, then he replied, "Luckily for you, Your Highness… I do happen to have more to offer you."

"A treasure map?" Jim uttered in frustration, after Hades finished enchanting the stone and handed it back over to Princess, then magicked an old parchment into his hands.

"I assure you, it's more than a treasure map," Hades curtly retorted, as he glared at the man married to the Angel of Death once again. "To some who follow it in search of what this map leads to, they might see it as a treasure. However, what you will find should you accept it and follow it carefully… is a weapon. A weapon that will give you the power to live for as long as you need to in order to complete your revenge, and the power to take each and every one of these pirates' lives. I told you I could give you the means you need. Oh… and one final gift to prove to you I only wish to help you. I'm afraid the man more so responsible for killing Captain Silver has been killed and already lives within my domain. I assure you, he will pay for his cruelty. However, the man who also was a part of the Captain's death and who murdered your King here… his name is Captain Jones. Formerly, Lieutenant Jones under his brother's command, and before that a good for nothing slave like his brother, under Silver's control until their mutiny took that control away from him. Killian Jones has become a pirate in order to make your father pay for his brother's death. And something tells me that killing him is going to be far from easy. He's a survivor. But with this weapon my map will lead you to, you'll have a fighting chance. Good luck, Your Highness. And Lieutenant too of course."

The Princess smiled, then she responded in gratitude, "Thank you, Hades. But like you called me before… It's the Angel of Death now. And Jim is my knight. I'm no Princess any longer."

The cruel God of the Underworld answered, "I know you're not."

And with that said, he vanished from before them within a pillar of blue flames just like he appeared. Then, once he was gone, Angelica knelt down over her father's body again and tenderly kissed his forehead before she finally whispered her vow to him that she would make Killian Jones pay for taking him from her.

Over the next several days, they and their soldiers buried their King and Captain Humphreys as well as the rest of the dead, then salvaged all the supplies they could for their long journey ahead of them that would lead them to this weapon that would help them gain their vengeance, no matter how long it took.

Back in the present, in Storybrooke…

"Why did you have to chicken out?!" the Angel cried out angrily once she and her husband were far enough away from the villain they've sought for two hundred years and the pirate's own wife, then swiftly continued to make their way back to Jefferson's now vacant house upon learning from the hatter where they could hide from the heroes for as long as they remained in Storybrooke. "We were so close to having our revenge… after centuries!"

"Hades is dead, Angelica!" Jim called back with just as much anger. "And worse than that… he didn't tell us the truth about what happened to Captain Silver. He didn't tell us he was the reason why Jones and his brother managed to survive the storm when no one else did, or that Silver's soul became his like all of the rest of the souls we've delivered for Hades."

Angelica shook her head in frustration as she curtly replied, "None of this matters right now, Jim. What does, is killing Jones. He's why we're here. Our revenge for my father and yours is finally within our grasp after all these years! I don't care if the souls we continue to collect go to Hades, or someplace entirely different if he really is dead like Jones and that woman claimed him to be. I will kill this slave and pirate. Not even you can stop me again."

Lieutenant Hawkins sighed wearily, then he responded, "I want him dead as badly as you do, Angel. And I promise we will see him so. But we need to take time to come up with a plan that won't get us killed in trying to succeed. Jones can't run and he can't hide from us, but we are outnumbered, especially now that these so called heroes who protect him know we're here."

"You're right," she stated in understanding, then tightened her grip on his hand she was holding lovingly while they walked up to the beautiful home the Mad Hatter from Wonderland offered to them, and made their way inside. "I'm sorry. I've just waited so long for this, Jim. We both have. How are we going to make Jones pay?"

"I have an idea, but it's going to take a little more patience," he finally answered. "I'm going to need you to continue to trust in me."


	12. Chapter 12

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Twelve

Emma pulled back from her husband a little so she could look up into his eyes again and could see the rage and his shame within them. She also saw that he continued to clench his jaw together, until he finally turned his head to look at her as well without saying a word. The Savior reached up to caress his cheek to try to offer him the little comfort she knew he would accept from her right now, but she didn't ask him if he was okay. The sad look in his eyes told her everything, and she understood that he was far from being alright.

"Come on," she finally said and stepped back as she started to walk away from him, until Killian swiftly reached out to grab her arm to pull her back. "We should go after them before they get too far and disappear again."

"No… I can't," Killian uneasily responded to her almost as though he was afraid of something, but when he spoke again, his explanation wasn't all what she expected from him despite him having spoken of it once before some time ago. "We have to find them yes, but if I go… especially now, then I can't promise you I won't kill them. Liam's death was what started me on my path to becoming a villain and me killing the Angel's father, and helping my brother to kill Silver and his crew was all a part of that beginning. I may no longer be alone, but I don't trust myself enough to believe I can restrain myself should they attempt to destroy all I've worked so hard for. I'm afraid I might revert back into the man I used to be."

Emma tenderly laid her hands over his chest and looked deep into his eyes again, then she whispered gently, "And like I told you moments ago and when you were afraid of losing yourself back then… you're not that man anymore, Killian. I know you can't believe you weren't partly to blame for your brother's decision to accept Hades' deal, or that you won't ever fully forgive yourself for your past no matter what I can possibly say or do to try to convince you that you deserve better. But I believe in you. Especially when you can't."

He smiled at her sadly, then answered, "I appreciate that, love. But you're right. I'll never fully be free of my past. Just as I know you're still haunted by your actions when you were the Dark One and some even within your own past. It's easy to be grateful for and even to accept others' forgiveness. But it's impossible for me to forgive myself even a little. Not when my sins keep coming back to remind me of all I've done."

"There you two are!" Regina suddenly called out to them, when she, Zelena, Snow, and David appeared behind them, then walked over to join them. "Have you had any luck in finding a clue as to this Angel's and Lieutenant's whereabouts yet?"

"They were here, but they ran off before we could stop them," Emma quickly replied before the man she loved could take anymore blame upon himself for letting them go. "They only wanted to make themselves known. We told them the truth behind Silver's death and Liam's deal, and we learned Hades was responsible for them still being alive to come after Killian."

Zelena released a quiet sight and then she tossed the gift box containing the sapphire over to Emma while she responded, "Unfortunately, Hades was the one who gave them the power to curse you with that black spot, Captain. By turning the Eye of the Storm into a power source."

Regina continued, "Gold helped us figure it out. He came by my vault and used his power to see if he could sense as I did. He recognized the power emitting from the stone belonged to Hades. I recognized it too, but not enough until he only confirmed what I was afraid of. What's worse is that we believe they have a powerful artifact that's given them the power to live this long, but in order to for such magic to work…"

"It comes with a price that not only they must have paid to get their hands on it, but one that will cost all of us greatly unless we stop them," the Savior finished for her upon understanding what it was she was getting at, then she looked worryingly over at Killian as he lowered his head to avoid looking into anyone's eyes. "We were just about to go after them before you all arrived."

"We didn't go after them because I was too much of a coward," Hook brusquely retorted and reached up to pull off his badge pinned to the front of his vest he wore beneath his leather jacket, then gruffly placed it into David's hand when he handed it over to him. "This badge belongs to you again until you can find someone more worthy of wearing it. It's not me."

And with that said, Killian ran off on his own in order to get away from everyone as he returned to town despite him being the target of these new villains' hatred, while Emma's father stared down at the sheriff's badge, then asked, "What just happened? It's not like Hook to be afraid of any villain."

Emma swiftly grabbed her husband's badge from her father's hand and started to go after him, but not before she answered, "He's sick and tired of his past rearing its ugly head and he blames himself for all of us being in danger now. But more than that, he's afraid he's going to revert back into his old self if he tries to stop them. Killian's trusting us to do what's needed to stop them before they can hurt him or anyone else. Regina… use magic if you have to in order to find Angelica and Jim Hawkins as soon as possible. Then call me as soon as you do if you need my help to stop them. I have to make sure Killian's going to be alright. I have to protect him."

"Of course," the Queen replied with a nod, then she and the others watched Emma run off after the man she loved.

"I doubt it's going to be that simple," Zelena stated again once the Savior was gone.

Snow responded sternly, "Zelena's right. These two have been surviving for as long as Killian has and have most likely killed… Well, God only knows how many people they've killed for their revenge. And who knows exactly what kind of power they have to have been able to accomplish it all."

Meanwhile…

Once he arrived back in town, Killian walked immediately to Gold's Pawnshop and entered inside, finding both the Dark One and Belle there like he hoped he would, then as they looked up from the books they were looking in upon hearing the bell over the door when it opened, the Captain spoke apprehensively saying, "Crocodile… I'm sorry… Gold. Belle… We need to talk. Regina and Zelena said you were working on trying to find a way to rid me of this cursed spot. Have you had any luck?"

"I'm afraid we really haven't had much time yet to find the right book," the beauty answered in worry, as she observed Killian's face after he approached her and her husband where they were standing in front of one of the other counters within the room, and saw how desperate he was growing in his eyes. "Rumple only returned a short time ago from talking with Regina and Zelena."

"Of course," the pirate replied in frustration, then opened up another one of the books stacked up beside him to skim through it, until Belle reached out to take his hand into her own in order to look closer at the black spot upon seeing it for herself as he did so. "Surely there's something you can do to rid me of it, Gold. Anything. The Angel of Death and her knight are in Storybrooke seeking to kill me because of what I did to her father, and his friend and protector centuries ago. I don't care about myself, but if they use this curse to somehow hurt anyone else… If anyone's hurt because of me… I have to rid myself of it. At the very least… a glamor spell to hide it, or to block the beacon they can track me with."

The Dark One shook his head in concern while he responded, "I'm afraid all a glamor spell would do would make the spot on your hand invisible to everyone else except for you, but it wouldn't mask the spot's power."

All of a sudden, Killian yanked his hand away from Belle and slammed his fist down against the books as he shouted, "Then cut off this hand too like you did the other if that's what it takes! I don't bloody care!"

"No!" the Savior sternly answered before Gold or Belle could say anything, as she walked out from the back room upon hearing her husband's desperate plea for Gold's help, then walked over to stand in front of him with a cross, yet worried look on her face. "I don't ever want to hear you talk like that again. I don't want to hear you talk about harming yourself in order to protect me or everyone else. Not even when you're feeling so guilty, or so angry with yourself. Do you hear me?"

"I do," he whispered sadly while he looked into her eyes once they softened. "Honestly, I was only frustrated. I didn't really mean it. I was…"

Emma tenderly laid her hand over his cheek while she finished for him, "I know. You're feeling desperate. Believe me… I do understand, Killian. But whatever happens until these villains are caught, it'll only be their faults. Not yours. They're the ones trying to kill you and they might try to use us to get what they want."

At last, Rumple stated again, "Miss. Swan's right, Captain. If we all blamed ourselves for everything that's happened because of the villains we've faced… myself included, then hope and peace of mind would hardly exist in our world."

"Rumple's right," Belle replied. "I promise you, we'll let you know if and when we find anything to help."

"I know I have a book that talks of the black spot somewhere," Gold added, then looked at the stacks of books piled up on the countertops around him. "Only… I'm beginning to wonder if it might have been one left behind within my castle in the Enchanted Forest. In which case…"

He shook his head and then continued, "No… I'm certain it's here. We'll find it."

Belle turned back to Emma and Killian, then noticed a look in Emma's eyes she recognized and sensed she wanted to speak with Gold for a moment without Killian, so she asked, "Killian… would you mind helping me with some more books? In the back… there's a few stacks up on a higher shelf I can't quite reach."

"Of course, love," he responded, then followed the beauty, leaving Emma alone with Gold."

"You wished to speak with me about something important without your husband being around, Miss. Swan?" the Dark One then questioned once Belle and Hook disappeared.

The Savior nodded and then she asked, "Back when Killian came to you asking for you to restore his hand…?"

Gold looked at her in understanding and answered, "I didn't curse his hand. When Hook… came to me that afternoon asking me to restore it, I knew in that moment I could use his request to my advantage. I knew how much Hook was suppressing to remain the hero he had become, especially back then. I know how much of an effort it's been for him to keep centuries of hatred and anger inside. So, I warned him that if I were to restore his hand, it could have adverse influence over him. That it could cause him to revert back into his old self. I made him believe I might have cursed it. I knew he wouldn't trust me enough to heed my warning, but soon he did begin to revert because his mind started playing tricks on him. Brought his hate back to the surface. I succeeded in getting into his head. I am sorry."

"That isn't why I asked," Emma worryingly replied. "Killian's afraid he's going to become his old self again. I don't believe it, but I'm worried he's going to try to hurt himself like he tried to do before I walked in here, if only just to make sure we're all safe."

"Which is why it's important you find his enemies as soon as possible, Miss. Swan," he said firmly.


	13. Chapter 13

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Thirteen

When Nova and Leroy walked inside the church with the children in their arms, a few more of the fairies greeted them and took Neal and Robin from them, then led them to a room extended off from the chapel where Blue was busy refining a small amount of diamonds the dwarfs had succeeded in unearthing from the mines with help from some of the other fairies surrounding their leader, including Tinker Bell and Tiger Lily, who a short time ago arrived in Storybrooke upon finding her way out of Neverland to look for the Blue Fairy, her closest friend.

However, when Nova entered the room, Blue stopped using her magic to turn the diamonds into fairy dust as she, Tinker Bell, and Tiger Lily all looked at her and Grumpy, then she stated in question, "Nova… you've come home?"

Nova smiled at her and quickly curtsied, then she answered, "Yes… I have. I've finally found the courage to do so. I've missed all of you. Especially you, Blue. I just wish I had come home sooner."

"It's so good to see you again, Pinkie," Tink responded with a smile, then quickly walked around the table over which they'd been working at and wrapped her arms around her sister to embrace her as the Pink Fairy returned the gesture. "Nova."

"Yes it is," Tiger Lily replied in agreement, then also walked around to offer the younger fairy a hug as well, followed closely by Blue herself.

As she did so, the Blue Fairy whispered, "Welcome home, Nova."

Grumpy then interrupted as he cleared his throat and spoke in frustration saying, "I hate to disrupt this happy reunion, but we really need to get out there to try to find these two strangers whom no one knows what they look like. Other than Hook of course."

"What are you talking about?" Blue asked him when she released her sister to face the dwarf standing among them. "What strangers?"

"Princess Snow and Prince David told us there are enemies here in Storybrooke who've come to harm Emma's husband," Nova quickly answered her. "But they're willing to hurt anyone to get to him. And they're afraid we're all in real danger. They need as many of us to try to find them… from the sky. It appears there are plenty of new faces in our town to me, so I don't know really how much help I can really be. But if I see anything suspicious, I'll let you all know of course."

The fairies' leader looked between her and the rest of the fairies standing around them sternly as she responded, "As will we all. Refining these diamonds can wait. We must protect our friends and our town. We will fly and search the woods, as well as throughout all of Storybrooke for those who do not belong here. If you find them, or run into any trouble, send out a single to alert the rest of us. And please be careful."

Upon the Blue Fairy giving her orders to her sisters, Nova quickly leaned over to kiss Leroy on his cheek, then she smiled at him and shrunk herself again to bring out her wings as she flew up into air alongside Tiger Lily, Tinker Bell, and a number of the rest of the fairies except for those who stayed behind to care for Neal and Robin. Grumpy then took off running so he could join his brothers in the mines to continue on with their own search.

Meanwhile…

Snow and David separated from Regina and Zelena so they could widen their search as well. Three o'clock that afternoon came and the Prince and Princess eventually made their way back to town so they could meet up with the dwarfs who finished looking throughout the mines the best they could, then immediately sent a message to their leaders. David texted them back asking their friends to meet them at Granny's so they could regroup and make new plans.

They walked through one of the neighborhoods outside of town, until Snow suddenly stopped when they passed by Jefferson's house upon discovering that the lights within the home strangely were on, even though its owner and his daughter no longer lived among them in Storybrooke.

David saw the lights on too, then while they slowly approached the house so they could investigate, he said sternly, "You don't think Jefferson and Grace have returned, do you?"

"You knew him better than I did," she replied out of concern. "At least… you knew the good in him better than I did. I still can't help but remember the side of Jefferson who kidnapped both me and Emma and nearly killed us both."

"I didn't really know someone who was much better either," her husband answered as they cautiously walked up the driveway. "He worked for Regina back then, remember? He refused to help me when I went to him seeking help to bring you and Emma home after you became trapped in the Enchanted Forest. But then… Henry eventually did get through to him. If they haven't come back, then we may have just found our villains."

"Unfortunately, your friend isn't back," a voice suddenly responded from behind them, as Snow and David immediately turned around to come face to face with Jim Hawkins. "But we came across your hatter friend some time ago though, and he helped us get here to your world so we could have our revenge. Even offered us a place to hide so long as we're stuck here."

Charming looked back at him sternly as he replied, "You won't hurt our son."

It was then that Angelica appeared behind them as well with her sword raised and Emma's parents spun around again and attempted to keep their eyes on both villains while the centuries old Princess curtly retorted, "Your son? That slave is over two hundred years older than the both of you. And what's worse is that he's the dreaded Captain Hook, who's murdered hundreds of innocent people and hurt thousands more. Yet you call him your son?! What is it about the people of this strange world? How are you all so disillusioned to believe Jones is some hero and worth all of your lives protecting him?"

"Because he's a good man, and like my husband said… our son," Snow White steadfastly answered her despite their threat, as the Lieutenant also pulled out his own sword in following his wife's lead. "His age and his past don't define who Killian really is. And he's no slave either."

"Believe what you will," King Driscoll's daughter responded darkly, then before either Snow or David could stop her, Angelica raised her hand to her mouth and suddenly blew dark fairy dust into both of the Charmings' faces to knock them unconscious, as they fell to the ground at the villainess' feet within a matter of seconds. "Because believing in the wrong man is what's going to get you killed. Unless he cares as much for you like you think he does. We'll find out soon enough."

Jim lowered his sword again and returned it to his scabbard on his side, then bent down as he prepared to drag their new captives inside beginning with the Prince, until a good fairy swiftly flew down in front of him in an attempt to stop him and help her friends while she cried out, "Leave them alone!"

When the solider swatted her away, the fairy used her magic to make herself large once again to reveal herself to them and to try to stand against them in their own size, but Angelica quickly lowered her own blade against Snow's throat threatening to kill her, so Nova stood back while she stated again pleadingly, "Please… don't hurt my friends. Why would you hurt innocent people just to make one man suffer? Not that Emma's husband deserves to become a target of your revenge either of course. But please…"

"How about we take this inside?" Jim Hawkins replied in concern of there being anymore possible onlookers who might attempt to interfere. "Come willingly, or my wife will kill this woman and I assure you… she has no qualms in doing so. We'll still have her husband to use as bait in order to get Hook to come to us."

"Okay," the Pink Fairy whispered sadly, then under duress she helped Jim and Angelica to bring Snow and David inside with them.


	14. Chapter 14

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Fourteen

Nova reluctantly helped the Lieutenant to drag her unconscious friends inside the home which the town's latest villains had holed themselves up in so long as Angelica continued to threaten David and Snow, then to bind them both to the chairs the villainess brought out and placed within the center of the living room using leather straps to do so with. Then when she finished, she stood up straight again to face their captors and swiftly magicked her wings away without saying a word to either of them. Angelica was the first one to break the silence.

"So... what do these heroes and the other fairies call you?" the Princess callously asked her. "Surely even fairies have names, don't they?"

"Nova," the Pink Fairy crossly replied as she glared at the woman standing in front of her. "Everyone calls me Nova. What do you want now? Are you going to tie me up too?"

Jim scoffed and then he answered, "You're a fairy. You can just make yourself tiny again and fly away. There's no point in tying you up with your friends here. So instead, we need your help."

The fairy looked at her like she was delusional as she questioned, "And what makes you think I would do anything more to help you? I won't leave my friends here alone with you."

"You won't be able to help them even with your magic," the Angel of Death snidely responded. "Like we told the pirate and his wife… we have magic of our own. You really don't want to go up against us. I need you to deliver a message."

"A message to who?" Nova asked in concern. "To the Savior?"

Angelica questioned, "Is that what the pirate's wife calls herself? The Savior? She certainly thinks highly of herself, just like Jones does. No wonder they're meant for each other."

The Pink Fairy more curtly asked again, "Who do you want me to deliver this message of yours too?"

"To the pirate," the Lieutenant replied for his wife. "Surely, you've heard by now why we're here. Why the entire town is out looking for two people they've named criminals and villains? Your friends will remain here with us. To remain as bait for the man we really want to see dead. If you refuse… or if Jones doesn't comply with the message we'll give to you to give to him, we'll kill his father in law. If he still refuses, we'll kill his mother in law too. And just so he knows how serious we are…"

"No!" Nova fearfully cried out, as the Angel pulled out a knife from her belt, then suddenly and swiftly cut a long, but shallow gash along David's left side collarbone before she put her blade away again once she wiped the Prince's blood off of it with a handkerchief. "What did you just do?!"

The other woman turned her head to look back at the fairy and smiled as she haughtily answered, "My knife is laced with a poison from a rare mushroom we collected in a strange realm known as Wonderland. I have the antidote, but he will only get it if and when the pirate trades his life to save him."

Jim looked between his wife and Nova, then turned his attention back solely on the woman all in pink as he sternly added, "Now go. And when you see that slave, give him this for us. For now, you'll find them at their home."

When the Lieutenant handed her a quill, she looked at him in confusion and he just nodded, then Angelica spoke again saying cruelly, "One last instruction… if this Savior of his interferes, stop her however you have to."

The Pink Fairy glared at her again, then restored her wings once more so she could fly away. However, she took a moment to turn back to her friends who continued to remain unconscious from the dust she didn't know had come from a dark fairy. Nova bent down in front of them and whispered a promise that she would be back soon with help, then she stood again and at last flew away to find Killian.

Inside Emma's and Killian's home…

The Savior and her Captain returned home after they left Gold's shop, long enough so they could grab some more supplies, a quick bit to eat, and to rest up for a short while. They had received a text from Regina a few hours ago saying that her magic she tried to use to track where these dangerous strangers in town were hiding, was somehow being blocked. Whatever magic they were in possession of, was powerful. More powerful than everyone initially thought, and feared. And the news made Killian feel even worse for not allowing Emma to go after them in the first place after they ran off.

"I'm going to go freshen up a little, and then I'll make us something to eat before we head back out to meet up with my parents, Regina, Zelena, and the dwarfs again," his wife said quietly as she gently caressed his cheek again and smiled up at him, then ran up the stairs, but not before she pulled out the Eye of the Storm still in its box to set it down on top of the island within the kitchen.

"You… you must be Killian Jones," Nova then asked when she suddenly flew into their home and appeared before him, then she began to hover above him, as Killian looked up at her in surprise. "Emma's husband?"

"Aye," the Captain responded to her in confusion as to why she might have come, not knowing who she was. "I am. Who are you?"

The fairy smiled sadly while she replied, "I'm Nova. Under normal circumstances, I would be so happy to meet you. Emma saved us all back when she broke the curse and I admire her a great deal. And if she loves you, then you must be…"

Killian interrupted her sternly when he answered, "You needn't finish that sentence. It doesn't matter right now and I'm not entirely sure you'd be right. Were you out among the other fairies looking for those who've come looking for revenge against me?"

"Yes," she then reluctantly responded to him. "Listen, I… I did find those we're all looking for. And I know where they are, but… Killian, they have David and Snow. I tried to help them, only… only they've threatened them and there was nothing I could do. Your enemies have knocked them unconscious and have them bound. They're holed up in someone's vacant house just beyond the woods. And they… they uh… gave me something to give to you."

"A quill?" he then questioned her in confusion as she held it out to him using her magic to levitate it in front of him, though he had yet to take it.

When he finally did so as she magicked it into his hand, Nova shrugged and replied, "He just said to give it to you. Nothing else."

Killian held the quill for a few seconds while he studied it expecting he might recognize it somehow, then he glanced back up at the Pink Fairy again. However, before he could ask her anymore about the plume that held no significance for him, or what he was meant to do with it, it suddenly wrenched itself from his hand and soared into the air on its own until it stopped again just above his hand, when Killian suddenly gasped painfully as the quill began to transfigure the black spot to magically incise a message one sentence at a time deep into the skin of his palm.

The message read, " _Follow the fairy back to where we're holding your wife's parents and come without your Savior. Refuse to comply, and your father in law dies first. Then your mother in law. Refuse to give your life for theirs, we will continue to track you down until everyone you love dies for your cowardice. That is if you really do love them more than yourself. And bring the Eye of the Storm with you._ "

Once the final sentence within the message faded away after it was read, the black spot transfigured itself again into his palm and remained as though the words never appeared despite the lingering pain Killian still felt from the effects of his skin being engraved like it were a piece of wood. And the quill then vanished as quickly as the words it forged.

"I'm so sorry," Nova whispered remorsefully upon giving him a magical artifact that had hurt him. "I had no idea…"

"Killian?" Emma suddenly called out to her husband as she came running down from the upstairs upon hearing him cry out while the last couple of words vanished, and rushed over to him upon seeing him using his hook to hold his wrist with his palm facing upward, catching a glimpse of the black spot returning back to its original form, then she immediately wrapped her arms around him to steady him when he stumbled. "What happened? Are you alright?"

She guided him over to the couch in their living room and sat him down, then knelt down in front of him, still not having noticed Nova while the Pink Fairy continued to hover above their heads as she did so, and upon seeing the worry in her husband's eyes that was different from his fear and the darkness she'd seen in them earlier, the Savior asked again, "Killian? The mark in your hand… What's wrong?"

"Your parents… Emma, I have to go," Killian remorsefully answered her while he raised his head and looked deep into her eyes, with anguish and even tears in his own. "I can't… I'm so sorry, but I won't let anything more happen to them because of me."

"What are you talking about?" his wife asked him fearfully, as she struggled to understand what he was trying to tell her. "Did they hurt Mom or Dad? Killian… you can't give yourself over to them even if…"

The Captain raised his eyes to look up at the fairy and simply nodded, knowing she would understand what he needed her to do. Emma also looked up, but before she could acknowledge the woman she once knew as Sister Astrid from before the first curse had been broken, Nova suddenly blew fairy dust into the Savior's face to render her unconscious while her husband immediately caught her in his arms to keep her from falling all the way to the floor.

Killian bent down above her and tenderly lifted the woman he loved into his arms so he could lay her down in his place upon the couch, then gently pulled back her hair that had fallen over her face using his hook to do so before he leaned down to kiss her lips. He then reached up to caress her cheek as a tear slipped down from the corner of his eye, expecting this would be the last time he would see her face, while he hated himself for allowing his sins to destroy everything he'd fought so hard for after centuries of villainy.

At last, Killian stood and looked up at Nova again with fortitude in his eyes once he wiped away the tears in them with the back of his hand, then he spoke firmly saying, "Take me back to wherever they're holding Snow and David."

The Pink Fairy shook her head as she sadly responded, "No. I… I can't do this. You're willing to give your life in order to protect Emma and her parents… and everyone. You are a good man. And Emma loves you so much. This isn't right."

"I'm not the man I used to be any longer and I have changed, but I was a villain for over two hundred years," he replied to her harshly, aiming the coldness in his tone and the anger he felt solely upon himself while he spoke. "Ever since I knew I would forever love her, I've always hoped that Emma's love for me would be powerful enough to change my destiny. That one day my life would end for good because of all the pain and hate I've forced upon those I've wronged in my past. It's no less than I deserve. But my past keeps coming back and people I love keep getting hurt because of me. I can't allow it to happen any longer. Not when giving my life over to those wanting to take it will protect those I love. Emma might not understand, but I hope she'll at least be able to forgive me one day. Please, Nova…

"These villains don't believe you have it in you to be a hero," she answered sadly. "That you don't have it in you to love anyone other than yourself. They're most definitely wrong. I'm so sorry, Killian."

Killian shook his head and responded, "Don't be, love. Just help me to save Emma's parents by doing like the Angel and her husband have asked of you. Everything's going to be all right."

Nova sighed, then she stated, "I'll take you to them."

When she turned away and flew above him in order to lead him to those who wanted to kill him, Killian started to follow after her on foot. However, he quickly stopped upon remembering Angelica and the Lieutenant had asked that he bring them the Eye of the Storm back to them as well. He walked over to the island where Emma left it, pocketed its box, then continued to walk after the fairy without so much as another word.


	15. Chapter 15

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Fifteen

Somewhere in the Forest of the Dead, deep within the Enchanted Forest…

Days turned into weeks before Princess Angelica and her husband, Jim Hawkins, were able to leave the ruins of their Kingdom so they could begin their journey to find the weapon Hades spoke of which could help them gain their revenge, as they worked hard to begin the restoration among the destruction and to try to help their people move on from the horrors forced upon them by the pirates' invasion. Unfortunately, a number of the people fled Longbourn seeking refuge and help from its neighboring Kingdoms and their rulers, including King George's ancestors living in the Royal Castle within the Enchanted Forest long before Snow White, Prince Charming, and even George himself were born. And soon enough, Longbourn was eventually abandoned because there wasn't enough food, resources, or gold with which Angelica and Jim could use to rebuild.

So… after the newly named Angel of Death and her knight left the ruins, they followed the map which the God of the Underworld had given to them in search of this weapon he claimed would give them what they believed would somehow lengthen their lives so they would be able to live long enough to be able to hunt down every last one of the pirates who destroyed their former lives by taking everyone and everything they cared about away from them. At last, after they traveled to the Enchanted Forest and walked for days with only the map to guide them, they finally grew close as they came upon the Forest of the Dead.

They didn't know what to expect to find, though they knew it would be a dangerous journey onward. So, they gathered the small army traveling with them of those within King Driscoll's Royal Navy who had survived the pirates' invasion and together they trekked through the darkness, trees, and brush now surrounding them the deeper into the forest they walked.

Even with the map, the troupe got lost more than once and a number of the soldiers were killed by the forest's wild animals or from mysterious occurrences which couldn't be explained except that it was done through the dark magic which clearly resonated all around them. Yet the Angel of Death only grew more and more determined to continue on in search for their prize, as her dreams were only filled with terror and her lust for revenge against the pirate, soldier, and former slave whom she had only barely known through her association with his older brother.

At last, Angelica, Jim, and the few men with them who survived, all came upon a cave mostly concealed by wild vines which grew amongst it. Each of those who held torches they used to light their path raised them out in front of them in attempt to see inside the darkness within the cave. However, as they did so, two brutes suddenly appeared before them from within and immediately began to fight those who invaded the forest, as they swung their staffs against the soldiers who immediately fought against them in the defense of their Princess and her husband.

Their men fought with all their might, only to discover dreadfully that the cave's defenders were nothing more than walking corpses being controlled by someone's dark power and could not be killed, so when it appeared that those who remained of her father's soldiers were about to fall, the Angel of Death cried out to whoever resided within saying, "I am Angelica, Princess of Longbourn and daughter of King Driscoll. My father was recently killed and my Kingdom destroyed. We seek your help, having learned of a weapon which can help my husband and I to get revenge against the pirates who wronged us. Hades… the God of the Underworld gave us a map…"

Angel cut herself off, when all of a sudden, the animated corpses stilled before they simply collapsed against the ground as another being emerged from within the cave while she spoke darkly saying, "Not many live who come here seeking the dark magic I possess. You know the God of the Underworld?"

"We do," the Princess responded calmly, despite feeling a fear she kept within herself upon at last seeing who she was speaking with once another woman stepped out into what little light shined upon her, as her face and the right side of her neck were horribly scarred and her eyes blinded, her pupils being purely black. "He gave us a map which led us here. Many of our men were lost and killed, but we never gave up to turn back, or ran away in fear. Hades told us of this weapon that will prolong our lives. A weapon I assume is that which you stand guard of?"

"Indeed I do, child," the scarred woman replied softly, then she smiled cruelly. "But that which you seek comes with a terrible price. One which I paid hundreds of years ago seeking to kill the one who banished me here to the Forest of the Dead. For seeking dark magic beyond that which I possessed so I could become more powerful than all those of my kind. So I could wipe them all out. I was once a fairy and I eventually became a dark fairy, until most of my powers were stripped from me. I heard of this weapon you sought then too and I finally found it. But at great cost to myself and one other whom I loved. My sister. She was killed the moment I touched it. I had not the power to save her. And my soul and body were forever scarred. Now I guard it to keep it from the hands of those who only seek it for wealth, or from those unworthy."

Jim raised his hand and laid it over his wife's shoulder as he whispered, "Angel… this is wrong. This weapon… it's pure evil and if it causes such pain and horror just on those who might wield it…"

The Angel of Death silenced her husband as she looked into his eyes and answered darkly, "Imagine what it would do to our enemies. You and me, Jim… We are worthy of wielding such power. Why else would Hades have come to us to help us?"

"Was it Hades himself who created this weapon?" she quickly asked the dark fairy when she turned back to look at her again. "Is that why he chose us?"

"No… it wasn't the God of the Underworld who forged such a weapon," its protector sternly responded. "Each of the Titans who have all been imprisoned within a cage in deepest darkest pits of the Underworld by Zeus and the other Gods… forged it by the strength of their powers combined. How it came to reside here within this dark forest, no one knows. But I do know that its power effects all of those who try to wield it differently. If Hades truly did come to you and told you of its power, then perhaps you may be who it's been waiting here for all these years."

Lieutenant Hawkins finally spoke to the scarred woman apprehensively as he looked her when he asked, "Exactly what is this weapon?"

It was then that the dark fairy summoned into her hands a long thin dagger sharp enough to cut a single strand of hair into two just from dropping the hair over its blade, and carefully held it out for them to study it while she warily replied, "This dagger is forged from the dark jade stones said only to exist within Mount Olympus itself. Upon the great war that took place between the Gods and the Titans before they were imprisoned and Hades was forced down into the Underworld, it is said this dagger was forged and was placed here within our realm by one of the Titans in the hope of one day using it to steal the Gods' powers out of revenge for turning against him and his brothers. This dagger cannot kill a God, but it can kill mere mortals and drain their life force, giving it to whoever wields it."

"Prolonging its possessor's own life," Angelica finally said again in understanding.

"If you're as ruthless as I'm sensing you are, my dear… then you could live an immortal life, so long as you continue to be willing to take lives," the fairy continued. "That is the price you must pay. Just how deep is your lust for revenge?"

The Princess stared down at the blade as she thought only of her bloodlust until her love for her husband snapped her from her trance like state she had momentarily fallen into and turned her head to look into his eyes, as he looked into hers, then pleadingly she whispered, "I can't just walk away with nothing after all we've already sacrificed to get here, Jim. That pirate has to suffer for killing my father and Captain Silver too. He destroyed everything."

The Lieutenant sternly answered, "He hasn't destroyed us. I love you, Angelica. I always will. So if you really need this, then I believe in you. I want to see the slave pay for taking the only fathers I've ever known away from me too. We'll find them all and make them regret destroying Longbourn."

She smiled at him, then together they reached out to take the jade dagger into their hands simultaneously. And in the moment they touched it, a great power emitted from it like a pulse that suddenly began to consume the life forces of all of those surrounding them. The soldiers from her father's Royal Navy, and that of the dark fairy's as well, as they screamed in sheer agony worse than any cries either of them ever heard before. And once the blade's dark power finished, Angelica and Jim could do nothing but stare all around them in shock at the bodies upon the ground. The others were dead, but the two of them were left unharmed and unscathed by their own destruction.


	16. Chapter 16

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Sixteen

Back inside Jefferson's old house…

Snow slowly awakened feeling groggy from having been rendered unconscious with dark fairy dust. She knew what it was, and was grateful they hadn't used the dust on her and her husband to turn them into bugs that were easily squashed. She used it on herself once before back when Emma and Killian had inadvertently altered hers and David's first meeting in order to save herself from being burned at the stake by the Evil Queen and became a ladybug so she could remain practically invisible to her enemies as she flew away to find David and Emma, as well as the rest of her friends somewhere out in the woods. Being a bug wasn't so pleasant, even if it had saved her life that night.

All of a sudden, she thought of David again and swiftly remembered that he'd been with her when they were both captured by the enemies from Killian's past, so she lifted her head so she could look all around her, then found her husband still unconscious and bound by leather straps to a chair set up a few feet away from her. The Princess began to struggle within the leather straps which kept her bound to her own chair she also found herself sitting in to try to break free, only to find that her efforts were of no use.

"Your bonds aren't going to loosen no matter how much you struggle to break free of them," a female voice spoke up from behind Snow, until the Angel of Death came closer and walked around her prisoner, then sat down on the couch in front of her so they were facing one another. "They're tight and my husband knows every knot there is, and which ones are near impossible to loosen unless someone were to untie you. How are you feeling?"

"Don't pretend to care how either of us are feeling," the younger woman curtly retorted to her, as she glanced at the villainess once more before she then turned back to the man she loved. "David? Come on… I need you to wake up."

Angelica chortled and then she answered, "Waking up won't be so easy for him I'm afraid. I'm sure he will eventually. Because he's strong and healthy, but having been rendered unconscious by dark fair dust isn't his only problem right now. You see, I've had to resort to something more in order to draw out the person we're really after."

Snow looked at her again in fear as she asked worryingly, "You mean Killian? He won't fall for whatever you're planning. And what do you mean… What have you done to my husband?"

"We've poisoned him," the Lieutenant replied in frustration, when he too walked around their captives and joined his wife on the couch. "But don't worry. So long as the pirate slave comes to trade his life for both of yours, your husband ought to be just fine. We have an antidote for the poison that's slowly killing him. Jones won't nearly be so lucky. Especially if he's exactly the coward we believe him to be."

"Using Snow and me as bait… won't help… help you get your revenge," David weakly responded upon waking moments earlier, as she struggled to lift his head despite the dizziness he felt while the poison continued to stream its way through his system, then finally managed to do so and looked first at his wife worryingly before he turned to face their captors. "Hook isn't a coward. He'll come, but he won't come alone. And he'll defeat you with our daughter's help, as well as the rest of the heroes here."

The villainess sat up as she answered coldly, "If he doesn't come alone, then you'll be the first one who dies. We sent him a warning thanks to help from one of your fairy friends, who understood exactly what would have happened to you if she refused. And if Jones cares about either of you at all, he will do like we want him to and then he'll die. Slowly… and excruciatingly."

Snow looked at her husband again as she asked worryingly, "David… how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," the Prince replied while he too began to struggle against his bindings until a dizzy spell fell over him, as he shook his head to try to push through it. "Kind of. I will be."

"You're lying," she responded worryingly, while she observed the sheen of sweat glistening off of his skin as a fever began to rise within him. "But I appreciate that you're trying to make me feel better."

David smiled at her, then turned back to Jim again when the Angel stood up to leave the room, and asked, "Was kidnapping me and Snow all a part of your plan to draw Hook out? How did you even know that we'd show up here?"

The Lieutenant pulled out an old piece of parchment David suspected must be an old map of some kind as he observed his captor, then Jim answered, "We didn't know it'd be you we'd be using as bait. You two just happened to be the unlucky bystanders. With everyone out looking for us, we knew someone would pass by this house eventually. We planned to catch whoever it was. My wife and I couldn't have been more pleased it was the slave's in laws."

"Stop calling him a slave," the younger Princess among them angrily retorted. "Killian never deserved the life that was forced upon him at such a young age. He's so much more and it's despicable that neither of you can see past your hate for him to see that. If you could just give him the chance to make amends to you somehow…"

"He can't raise my father from the dead!" Angelica suddenly shouted at her before Snow could finish, as the Angel walked around her again and glared down at her. "He can't undo the damage done to my Kingdom, and he can't turn back time. There's nothing he can do to make amends after everything he took from me. From us."

Jim Hawkins smiled while he continued to look down at the map which Hades had given to them centuries ago, then he replied, "But he can die just like we killed all the rest of his first band of pirates. It looks like Jones came after all. He really must care about you. I am a bit surprised."

Angelica took the map from him and smiled as well upon seeing on the parchment thanks to the beacon over Killian's palm that he had in fact arrived, then she added, "But his arrival is certainly not unexpected."

"No…" David stated worryingly, then started struggling against his bindings again like Snow began to do as well when there was suddenly a knock at the front door they both recognized to be the sound of Killian rapping his hook against the wood of the door. "Please don't do this!"

"Agh…" the Prince then suddenly cried out as a wave of pain flooded through him from the poison, the more he fought to break himself free.

Snow stopped her own struggle upon hearing her husband cry out in pain and saw him lower his head against his chest as she looked at him in worry, until her attention turned to the door again when Jim walked over to it so he could let the Captain inside after he had knocked a second time. And as he did so, Angelica drew her sword from her scabbard and lowered its edge down against Snow's neck while she prepared for the man they were finally going to see dead after two hundred years of searching for him.

The Lieutenant stood in the pirate's way while Nova immediately flew back inside the house to where she found David and Snow were still alright aside from the poison that was slowly killing the Prince, and hovered again above them before she finally made herself big once more so she could kneel down to try to help them however she could without actually freeing them knowing the villains wouldn't allow her to.

Killian glared at the former soldier within the Royal Navy and spoke to him coldly saying, "I've come. Like you and your not so angelic wife asked of me. Where are Snow and David? Just how badly are they hurt?"

Jim stepped aside while he responded, "No more so than the Pink Fairy here has told you we've already done to them."

"David?" Killian whispered out of worry upon seeing Emma's parents both bound in separate chairs within the middle of the room and his father in law weakened from the poison flowing through his bloodstream, then he immediately rushed forward and knelt down in front of them as he ignored the Angel of Death standing over them with her sword against the Princess' neck. "Snow… I'm so sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt because of me."

"This isn't your fault, Killian," his mother in law answered sadly, as she saw the remorse and sadness in his eyes while he looked up into hers until he turned his attention over to David so he could attempt to help him. "You shouldn't have come here. Please… You have to get out of here before…"

Angelica suddenly moved the pointed end of her blade against Killian's throat and forced him to focus on her and Jim as he rose back to his feet to stand tall before them, then she said cruelly, "You won't be going anywhere will you, Jones? You really do care about others over yourself now. All these years we've been alive really have changed you. But that doesn't mean you don't deserve to suffer and die for all you've done to me. To Jim and to our Kingdom. You murdered my father and you were responsible for Captain Silver's death as much as your brother was. If he was still here, I would kill him as well."

Killian clenched his jaw until he replied, "You're right. I deserve whatever punishment you see fit to make me suffer. But they don't. They had nothing to do with all that's happened between us. Hand the antidote for the poison down to the fairy so she can save David any more pain, then set them all free. I won't attempt to escape. That was our bargain after all… myself in exchange for their health and freedom?"

"And we will keep to our bargain," Lieutenant Hawkins responded, as he too glared into his enemy's eyes like his wife was doing as well.

"But not before they see what we're going to do to you," the Angel of Death darkly continued. "We can't have them running off to tell your wife and the rest of your heroes where you are just yet. We deserve all the time we want to watch as you suffer at our feet."

The Captain lifted his hand over the blade at his throat and carefully lowered it away from himself, then callously answered, "So… get on with it already. The poison first. Help David, and then let's see if you really can destroy me with whatever it is you've brought to do so with."

Snow and Charming looked up at their son in law worryingly while he spoke to his enemies, then watched as Jim handed a small vile he had pulled out from his inside coat pocket down to the Pink Fairy, who took it carefully before she asked, "Are you sure this really is the antidote for the poison? How are we supposed to trust you after all you've done and are about to do?"

"You can choose to trust us or not," the Lieutenant replied to her. "But it really is the cure. If you don't take the risk, your Prince will die either way."

"Now… about the Eye of the Storm?" Angelica stated again to Hook, as Nova apprehensively helped David to drink down the antidote while Killian and Snow both watched on in worry. "Did you bring it with you like we asked?"

The pirate captain looked at the villainess and her knight again coldly, then he pulled the box still containing the sapphire from the pouch he wore on his belt and swiftly tossed it to Angelica while he responded, "Now you know I'm a man of my word. I've given you all that you wanted. Let's get on with this duel. It was a fight you wanted?"

When Hook began to pull his cutlass from the scabbard he also wore at his side, the Angel put away her own as she answered, "That won't be necessary. You can hand your sword over to the fairy. So long as she doesn't think she can try to use it to help you. I was impatient earlier, Hook. I finally saw you again after waiting two hundred years to make you pay… and I just wanted to see you dead right then and there. But a swift death like you forced upon my father and his loyal Captain is far too good for you."

"I told you that I won't attempt to escape so long as those I care about remain your prisoners, but if you expect me to just stand here and allow you to torture me without putting up so much as a fight, then you're sadly misguided," Killian retorted coldly without complying to her demand that he give up his sword. "You might want to hurry with whatever you do want. I gave my word that my wife wouldn't follow us as you demanded. I had Nova put her to sleep with her fairy dust so Emma wouldn't follow me. But it will wear off and when it does… she will come looking for me. For us."

"There's a powerful spell around my wife and me preventing anyone from using their magic to track us down," Jim replied. "And now it's around this house as well so that all of us here inside it will also remain unseen through the others' magic. They won't find us until we set your friends free. Then, slave… they can run to them and bring them back here just in time to find your dead body. Your crew and other pirates aren't the only people we've killed. We've killed many magical beings and creatures too, including fairies. Both good and dark fairies. And we've stolen many magical artifacts now in our possession."

At last, the Angel of Death carefully pulled a scabbard she wore from her belt and held it out as she unsheathed the all-powerful jade dagger, then raised it in front of her eyes while she continued cruelly, "Trust me, pirate… your sword and your hook can't protect you from the power wielded within this blade. Nothing can. And I don't even have to stab you with it. At least not just yet."

Before Killian could react except to raise his hook in front of his chest in a small effort to block what was coming, the jade dagger's dark power discharged from within it as its force struck him straight on, causing him to cry out in agony when he was suddenly blasted far across the room until he was rammed heavily into the far wall, then he collapsed to the floor in a heap.

Both Nova and Snow cried out for him in horror, while David fearfully shouted, "Hook!"

"What the hell have you done?!" the Prince angrily questioned the villainess while he fought to break himself free again from the leather straps still binding him to his chair so he could help his son who had yet to move, though they saw he was still conscious from the writhing of his body and sounds of his painful gasps and heavy breathing. "What kind of weapon…?"

"A great weapon beyond any power you could ever hope to wield, forged by the Titans who've been prisoners of the Gods of Olympus for thousands and thousands of years," the Lieutenant darkly responded, as he and his wife approached the man now suffering agony worse than any pain he's ever felt, then knelt down above Killian before he reached out to pull the Captain over onto his back.

Angelica also knelt above him and looked down into his eyes as Killian struggled to look up into hers while he whispered weakly, "You… you have me… Let my fam… family go."

The villainess chortled until she raised her head to look over at her husband and then she spoke again saying, "Set them free. But in a minute. They should be here to witness the true power of this dagger."

"Please… please don't kill him!" Snow called out to them pleadingly. "He's already in so much pain. You hate Killian because he was the monster who murdered your father and destroyed your Kingdom, but you've become no better than he was. Only Killian's done what you haven't. He's changed and has become a hero who's loved by everyone here including a Savior. You both can be better too. You can change and find peace here like he's done. Just show him mercy. Please."

"We don't want the kind of peace this slave's found," the Angel of Death callously retorted as she turned to look over at Snow. "You really think the man you claim as your son is in pain now, Your Highness? It's only going to grow worse for him before we show any mercy by allowing death to take him."

And without another word, Jim reached out to hold the hilt of the jade dagger with his wife and together they slowly dragged the weapon across Killian's chest above his heart, yet she didn't push in too deep. Just deep enough to draw blood and to elicit another quiet cry of pain from him. She and the Lieutenant wanted him to suffer for as long as was possible.


	17. Chapter 17

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Seventeen

Inside Gold's Pawnshop…

Gideon was asleep in the back room while Gold and Belle continued to search through the mounds of books stacked up all around them. Killian had helped Belle to take down several more books from the shelves within the back room, then together they brought them out to put them with the rest before he and Emma left the shop to return home. So the stacks had only grown in size instead of getting smaller. Most of the library from his castle came over with the Dark One in the curse, so it was no wonder to him why he had so many. It was however overwhelming, when Gold stopped reading a moment to look around at what little progress he and his wife appeared to have made.

The beauty stopped her own reading upon seeing that her husband had become distracted and then she asked, "Rumple? What is it? Have you thought of something?"

He broke from his thoughts as he turned to look at her and replied, "No. I was just taking a few minutes to rest my eyes. We've been searching these books for hours and still we've come up with nothing to help Hook."

"You really are concerned?" Belle questioned upon seeing concern in his eyes. "For Killian I mean?"

"I'm concerned about the threat these villains pose to all of us should they not get the revenge they've come for," the Dark One responded, then raised his head to look into his wife's eyes. "As well as what could happen if they do. We still don't know what this all-powerful weapon in their possession is, or whatever else they might possess as well. All of our lives are at stake until we stop them. And yes… I suppose a part of me worries for Hook's welfare and for those who love him most. I'm not so sure we're exactly friends yet, but at least we're far from being the enemies we were."

Belle reached out to lay a hand over one of his own and then she answered, "I'm sure everything is going to turn out just fine, Rumple. We've won many battles because we have hope and love on our side. I believe we'll win this battle as well. We just need to find this book of yours. I don't suppose you remember the color of the binding, or anything about this book that might help narrow our search down a little?"

Gold turned his attention back on the stacks of books and studied their bindings until one book suddenly stood out to him as he strangely remembered reading a passage within it days after Hook had tricked him into cutting off his wrong hand that Rumplestiltskin believed to be holding the magic bean, which the pirate switched to his other hand unbeknownst to him, before the Captain and his crew had used the bean to travel to Neverland and far from the Dark One's reach.

He finally reached out to pull the one book out from within the stack while he replied, "I think I might have just remembered, actually. Thank you, Belle."

"I'm not really sure I did anything," she responded, then began to study the pages once her husband opened the book and flipped through them in order to find the passages about the Curse of the Black Spot, until Belle finally laid her hand over the book again to keep him from turning any further. "Stop… this is it, Rumple. We've found it."

"I think we may be in luck," the Dark One answered while he read the words written over the page next to a crudely sketched drawing of a pirate's hand that had been marked with the black spot. "That is… so long as Regina or the others still have possession of the Eye of the Storm."

Belle looked over at her husband as she questioned, "The Eye of the Storm? You mean the sapphire you said you were examining with Regina and Zelena this morning?"

Rumple nodded as he replied, "Yes. This passage says that there are two ways of ridding someone of the black spot. By destroying that which was used to curse him with it, or…"

"Or death," the beauty finished for him while she read the words along with him. "Which we absolutely cannot let happen, Rumple."

"No, of course not," Gold swiftly responded to her in agreement. "The next problem will be figuring out a way to destroy the Eye. When I used my power to gain a sense of its power emitting from within it, I could tell that destroying it won't so easily be done, unless…"

He turned to look over at his wife again and then he continued, "Belle… I need you to call Leroy and ask him to bring with him his ax. A dwarf's ax might be the only thing powerful enough to destroy the stone. It's enchanted, but enchanted to cut through even the toughest of diamonds and other gems. Any other magic… not even my own can."

Belle smiled and nodded, then she pulled her cell phone out from her skirt's pocket so she could make the call to her friend. Thankfully, he and the others were all just down the street at Granny's with their axes after they had been busy spending all morning and part of the afternoon searching the mines for the threats to their town. It wasn't long before Grumpy arrived at the shop along with Happy, Doc, and Dopey, and walked inside.

Upon entering, Grumpy saw Belle and Gold standing in the back of the room and he spoke first as he called out to the beauty saying, "All right… We're here and we've brought out axes with us, Sister. What's the urgency? Is this about trying to help Hook or finding these villains?"

"I hope so," Belle answered him when she turned to face him while he and his brothers walked over to join her and her husband. "At least it's a start to help him. We needed you to bring your ax because we were hoping it might be strong enough to destroy the sapphire which marked Hook with the Curse of the Black Spot."

"I've heard of this curse," Doc replied sternly. "I read the book, Treasure Island… back when I was cursed. Although I didn't know this curse was real. And Hook's been cursed with it?"

Gold looked at him as he responded, "He has. Hook's been marked for death, but we think you all can help him, at least by helping to destroy the beacon that allows for his enemies to keep their eyes on him so that he won't be such an easy target for them to find."

The Dark One then used his power to create a replica of the Eye of the Storm which consisted of the same minerals and magical properties as far as he could tell from studying the real stone, and he stated, "See if your ax can destroy this. If so, then there's a good chance it will destroy the real sapphire as well."

"You want me to risk breaking my ax on some fake rock conjured with your dark magic in order to test its strength?" Leroy asked curtly, then shook his head. "Na uh… No way. I like my ax, thank you very much."

"I'll do it," Happy then answered while he raised his ax from off his shoulder and prepared to do as was needed, as Gold bent down to set the fake stone down on the floor in the center of the room and then stepped back again.

However, Grumpy stopped his brother as he reached out to grab Happy's shoulder to pull him back while he brusquely retorted, "No… I'll do it. Belle called me, not you."

The beauty looked between her friends as she sternly replied, "It doesn't really matter which of you do this for us. Please… we really don't have much time to waste. Hook and Emma are depending on us."

"Sorry, Sister," the grumpier dwarf responded to her, then raised his ax and swung its blade down against the replica, which suddenly shattered into broken shards upon the ax's strike as a burst of magic emitted from it.

"It appears to have worked," the Dark One said again once the wave of magic faded, as he and Belle, as well as the dwarfs all turned around again after they hid their faces once the pulse faded and stared down at the shards that remained of the fake stone. "Only I suspect that the real sapphire will emit a much stronger force. We need to call the others."

Doc looked at them in concern while he answered, "We've been trying to call Snow and David for some time. Emma and Hook too, but none of them are answering. We were supposed to meet nearly an hour ago at Granny's to come up with the next step in trying to find Hook's enemies."

Belle, after she tried to send Emma and Hook messages to come back to her husband's shop, looked between Gold and her friends while she replied, "Doc's right. They aren't answering. I've left a few messages and tried calling them as we were waiting for you boys to get here."

"I'll try calling Regina," Gold responded once he pulled out his own phone. "Hopefully she'll know what's going on. Gentlemen… was she and Zelena going to meet you at Granny's as well?"

"They were already there when we left to come here," Happy answered, as Dopey just nodded his head to try to answer as well. "At least they're not missing too. Something bad has happened. Hasn't it?"

Belle looked at the dwarfs worryingly, then turned to look over at her husband again while he simply nodded to show he was concerned Happy might be right. The beauty was about to speak again, until Gideon started to cry from the back room upon awakening from his nap and she left the men alone so she could take care of her son.


	18. Chapter 18

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Eighteen

Back in the past, somewhere out on the ocean surrounding the Enchanted Forest…

 _"How are you feeling?" Killian asked his brother out of worry to finally break the silence that had fallen over them once he found the courage to do so, as Liam studied his image within the small square mirror hanging on the wall above his bed while he finished buttoning the vest that was part of his uniform._

 _"Shipshape," the older Jones responded confidently, until he exhaled deeply before he spoke what was really on his mind as he turned around to face his younger brother. "Killian… I should've listened to you."_

 _Killian shrugged off his brother's admittance that he had been right and sighed, then he answered, "I'm just glad you survived. What now, brother?"_

 _Liam walked around the table beside him in order to pick up his discarded coat lying over the chair so he could put it back on as well, while he fell back into his role of Captain and steadfastly he replied, "We reveal our King's cowardice."_

 _"Well… let's hope the realm sides with us," the younger brother apprehensively responded._

 _"Oh, they will," the Captain once again answered with more confidence, before he sighed deeply out of frustration. "To fight battles using unholy weapons is, as you say… bad form."_

 _Killian looked at his brother and smiled, then turned to face him so he could help him straighten his uniform while he replied quietly, "Aye. I will follow you… 'til the ends of the earth, brother."_

 _Liam embraced his brother's arm in gratitude, until they heard the crew's master bosun call out to the rest of the men, "All hands brace for landing!"_

 _At last, the ship landed roughly, yet safely within the waters of their own realm, leaving Neverland far behind them once and for all, as the Jewel of the Realm creaked and ocean's waves crashed up against its planks until the ship stilled as much as it could amongst the waves while they continued onward towards home._

 _"Land ho!" the crewman called out again to the men above, and both brothers laughed as they looked at one another before Killian walked over to the quarters' window to get a look at the sight before them._

 _"What do you say, Liam?" the younger Jones then asked Liam without turning his head to look at him, not quite hearing his brother gasp in pain at first. "You want some company when you report to the admiralty?"_

 _When Killian finally did turn his head again towards his brother, he stared in front of him as Liam slowly collapsed while he gasped again and struggled to breathe, then the Lieutenant fearfully cried out, "Liam?"_

 _The younger Jones rushed over to try to help him and saw that the effects of the poison that nearly killed him on the island had returned again, then he pulled Liam into his arms and held him tightly against his chest while he cried again, "No! N… no! Liam! Liam. Liam! No, no, no, no! No, no, no!"_

 _"Help!" the younger man then shouted out to anyone from their crew who might hear him. "Help!"_

 _"Liam," Killian at last whispered as his voice broke in despair upon feeling Liam die within his arms, and he began to sob while he continued to hold his brother tight._

Killian was at last pulled from his thoughts hours after the Jolly Roger pulled away from the port beyond what little remained of his former Kingdom, when his first mate walked into the quarters in order to check on him to make sure he was alright after he had tried knocking on the door at least three times, yet received nothing but silence.

Bombay looked at his Captain in concern upon seeing Killian sitting on his bed against the farthest wall from the door, with his legs pulled up against his chest and his head back against the wall behind him. The younger Jones turned his eyes to look at the first mate, yet he didn't say anything. Not even a reprimand for coming in without his permission to enter.

The older man spoke quietly despite the sounds of the rest of the crew shouting jubilantly in celebration from up on deck after their successful mission to pillage and plunder all of their King's riches and treasures, as he asked, "Captain? Are you… are you ill, Sir? We thought you would be up celebrating our victory with our crew. We defeated King Driscoll and you got your revenge for your brother. Is that… is that not what you wanted?"

Killian lowered his eyes to stare down at the floor at the bottom of his bed while he responded miserably, "Aye… Revenge. I wanted to make the bastards who killed Liam suffer and I succeeded. Like Liam wanted… I revealed our King's cowardice. Longbourn now knows of the kind of man Driscoll was. And I ran my cutlass straight through his black heart. As I set out to do. Only… I feel nothing. Nothing except perhaps shame. After our father abandoned Liam and me twenty or so years ago by selling us into a life of slavery, I felt a darkness within myself I was afraid of because I hated our father. Because I hated myself for failing to be the kind of son he wanted. But my brother kept me in line. He made me a better man I was actually proud of. And tonight… Tonight, I destroyed all of that. I avenged his death… yes, but at too high a cost. We lost a number of our crew in the war we waged for my own selfish greed and I've given into my hate to become the man I always feared I would become. I can never go back to being the man Liam was proud of."

"Your brother wanted to make King Driscoll pay for his treachery, Captain," Bombay answered him again at last once Killian finished, then closed his eyes to avoid looking up at the first mate who still stood before him. "He wanted to do as you did. And we're all proud to follow you, Captain. Wherever we go from here. You may not feel you've earned your position as our Captain. But you're wrong, Sir. I followed your orders when you were just a Lieutenant, when you became Captain and led us in the war which brought down treacherous King, and I will continue to follow you wherever the wind takes us. Whether we remain pirates, or not."

"It's too late to go back," the pirate captain replied resolutely and finally moved to stand again, then walked over to the table where a number of maps and star charts were laid out as he began to study them to chart a new course for them to travel in order to avoid any naval ships which may or may not come after them in retaliation for their own treachery. "We are pirates now, Mr. Bombay. And we will remain so. For now… do what you have to do to break the crew from their revelries before they become too drunk to work. Those of the King's Royal Navy who survived this night will eventually try to come after us. And Driscoll's daughter and Lieutenant Hawkins will see to it that they do once they arrive home to find Longbourn destroyed and the King dead. We've long and treacherous journeys ahead of us. It will take hard work and dedication if we're all to survive. Now leave me. And, Bombay… Your loyalty is much appreciated. I promise you, it won't go unrewarded."

Bombay nodded, then he turned to leave the Captain's quarters again so he could follow the new orders given to him, while Killian continued to chart their course. Over the next several weeks, the Jolly Roger came under fire from not only ships within the Royal Navy, but also from other pirates as well, as they sought to take the Jolly Roger for their own. However, despite their attackers' best efforts, those aboard the Jolly Roger either defeated or outran them all. It turned out that the ship's newest Captain truly was a hell of a Captain like Hook would later on claim to be, as word of his ruthlessness and fearlessness against his enemies spread throughout all the Kingdoms and eventually to other realms like wildfire.

However, over the course of the next couple of years, Captain Jones was forced to take on new crewmen as a number of them were killed in the many battles they fought, a number of which their enemies were led by Jim Hawkins. And some of his crew left the ship to find other men to serve under for whatever reasons they might have come to disagree with their Captain over the years.

And then, three nights before Killian fought a duel he would come to lose against the Dark One and villain who would soon become his greatest enemy, yet a battle he would survive on account of the villain's cruelty, Bombay was slain along with the rest of the pirate crew by the Angel of Death as they all slept ashore within a tavern for a night, while Captain Jones remained aboard his ship with the woman he loved.

Killian never knew of the weapon Driscoll's daughter and son in law now wielded and used to kill the last of his original crew and the one man he truly trusted above anyone else since his brother's death. However, she and her husband made sure Killian knew exactly who it was who had slaughtered them.


	19. Chapter 19

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Nineteen

Back in Storybrooke…

Within mere seconds while they continued to carve into the pirate's chest, soft sounds of ecstasy escaped both Jim's and Angelica's lips once the jade dagger's power slowly began to drain Killian's life force, as it flowed from him and into them. Meanwhile, the only sounds coming from Killian's lips were the sounds of immeasurable pain, as tears fell from his eyes and he hadn't the strength to fight back. David only grew angrier while he continued to struggle against his bonds, and Snow cried as Hook's enemies continued to torture their daughter's husband and the man they loved as their son. Yet she and David were unable to do anything to help him.

Like Snow, Nova cried as well the longer Emma's husband suffered and held tightly to Snow's hands to offer her all the comfort she could despite feeling none herself. While she was free to fly away, she didn't leave her friends' sides. Nor did she dare make a move against the Angel of Death or her husband to try to help Killian, out of fear of what they would do to her or the Charmings if she tried.

At last, the villains pulled the blade away and the Lieutenant let go, having had his fill of making Killian suffer, even if the Captain now at their mercy was his enemy responsible for killing the only fathers he'd ever known. Then, he rose to his feet and made his way over to their prisoners so he could finally untie them to set him free. Angelica however, continued to kneel over the monster who murdered her father while she stared down at him darkly and watched him writhe against his anguish, as he struggled to keep his eyes open and remain conscious, trying not to show the Angel his fear.

Upon seeing defiance in Killian's eyes despite his suffering instead of fear like she wanted, her anger and hate for him only grew deeper. And like her first time ever touching the jade dagger, she suddenly fell into a trance like state as though the evil from within the blade was speaking to her, begging her to make her enemy suffer even more.

Once she broke free again when she heard Jim's voice while he spoke quietly to the pirate's parents and the fairy, she raised her head and looked up as she saw that her husband was busy, then lowered her eyes back on the man lying beneath her. Angelica lowered the dagger again over the scar along Killian's right cheek, unbeknownst to her that it had been given to him by her father, then cut into it to make it bleed all over again, causing him to elicit another cry.

Jim turned his head to look back at his wife and saw she was hurting him again, then he asked, "Angel… what are you doing? The dagger's doing its job. It's draining his life force that is now flowing into us. He'll be dead soon enough and we'll finally have our revenge. We don't have to keep torturing him any longer. You're better than this."

Without looking at him again, she answered darkly, "You're wrong, Jim. I'm not. I may still love you. Like you love me, but we're no longer the people we were before this slave turned us into monsters too. And now I'm going to show him exactly who've I've become. I'm the Angel of Death."

Before Jim or the heroes could do anything to stop her, the Angel of Death raised the jade dagger over Killian again, then she suddenly and angrily thrust it down deep through his only hand, pinning him down to the floor. Killian screamed, while David, Snow, and Nova all cried out in fear for him like before, and the Lieutenant cried out to his wife as he begged her to stop.

Thankfully, Jim had mostly untied the leather straps securing David to his chair like he had finished doing for Snow, so despite still feeling weakened and a little dizzy from the effects of the poison leaving his system, the Prince swiftly thrust his arms up beneath his captor's chin to knock him off his guard and balled his hands into fists, then punched the former naval officer square in his jaw and in his chest, before finally kicking him in his stomach in order to knock him down to the floor. Once Jim was on the ground, David, Snow, and the Pink Fairy all rushed over to try to help Killian, as Nova immediately used her magic on Angelica to freeze her when she became distracted by their own attack before the villainess could rise to try to help her husband.

The heroes knelt down over Killian, as Snow carefully placed one of her hands beneath her son in law's head and the other over his chest where his blood was slowly trickling out from the lacerations Angelica the Jim inflicted upon him. Nova laid her hands down over her friend's stomach and his legs, as David took his face and his hook into his hands until he started to reach out in order to pull out the dagger still embedded in Killian's hand and in the floor. However, he stopped when the Lieutenant suddenly shouted out a warning from where he fell.

"Don't touch it!" he cried, as he struggled to get back up onto his feet again. "That dagger could kill you. It effects everyone differently. Trust me… we know. We've spent the last two centuries experimenting with its power."

"Forgive us if we don't trust anything you tell us!" David retorted angrily, while he glared up at the Lieutenant now standing over him. "How do we get the dagger out if we can't touch it? How do we save him?"

Jim Hawkins shook his head and scoffed, then he responded, "You can't. The damage has already been done. It's only a matter of time before he dies and his life prolongs ours. If you leave now, then you won't have to suffer like he is."

Charming glared up at him until his eyes softened when he lowered his head to look down at his son again and then he replied, "No… there has to be a way. We always find a way to save those we love. And there's no way in hell we're going to leave him here alone with you."

"Nova… you have to go get Emma and the others," Snow urgently pleaded with the fairy when she turned her head to look over at her. "Don't worry about David and me. We'll be fine here, but Killian needs Emma. Please."

"Okay," she reluctantly answered her and transfigured herself small again, then finally flew off to go find the rest of the heroes while the Prince and Princess stayed behind with the severely wounded man in their arms.

Jim attempted to pull the pistol he wore in his belt out in the moment the Charmings were distracted as their friend flew away. However, David was quicker when he immediately picked up Killian's fallen sword on the floor barely within his reach, then he raised the pointed end up beneath Jim's chin as he stood as well in order to protect his wife and son, while Snow remained close to Killian. For now, the Pink Fairy's power over the Angel still held.

The Lieutenant looked into the Prince's eyes as he questioned, "So… what now? Are you going to kill Angel and me? I've been alive for as long as that slave you're protecting and we've gotten everything we've wanted. I'm prepared to die."

David kept his eyes on the man he held the sword against while he responded, "We aren't killers. And neither is Hook. But you are going to answer for what you've done to him. And if Hook does die… Well, then your punishment will only be that much more severe. You had better pray he survives."

"In the meantime…" he continued, as he used his sword to guide the villain over to the chair where he had been bound for the last few hours and once he knew Jim wasn't going anywhere, David tied him as he had been, then walked over to Angelica so he could do the same with her while she was still frozen. "Let's see how you like being tied up."

Meanwhile, inside Granny's…

"This is ridiculous," Regina finally stated out of frustration, after she and her sister, as well as the dwarfs until most of them had been called away by Belle, Blue, Tiger Lily, and Tinker Bell had all been waiting for Emma, Hook, Snow, and David to join them again for far too long. "Something's obviously wrong. They all should have been here by now."

Blue looked between her two sisters as she worryingly replied, "Nova has gone missing too. I've tried to find her, but it's like she's vanished from Storybrooke. The others too. Hook's enemies are in possession of great power."

All of a sudden, Emma rushed inside the diner and was grateful to find the others already there, as Regina spoke out again saying, "Finally! What took you so long, Emma? And where are Hook and your parents?"

"I don't know," the Savior answered her worryingly when she walked over to join them at the tables, but didn't take a seat. "However long ago it was… Killian and I returned home so we could grab ourselves something to eat and rest up for a few minutes. I went upstairs to freshen up and when I came back down, Killian was hurt by something. Somehow, something effected the black spot and sent him some kind of message. I didn't see it, but when I asked him what was wrong, all Killian said was that he was sorry and that he couldn't let anything happen to my parents again because of him. The next thing I knew, I woke up on the couch and Killian was gone. I have no idea where he is, but I think he went to turn himself over to the villains in order to save them."

"And took the Eye of the Storm with him too, no doubt," Gold responded, as he and Belle with Gideon in her arms, entered Granny's through the back, while Grumpy, Dopey, Doc, and Happy all came in through the front. "I believe we've discovered a way to remove the curse from Hook's hand. However, in order to do that, we'll need the sapphire so we can destroy it."

Leroy quickly added, "With my ax. Gold's pretty positive it'll work."

Because she was afraid for the man she loved, Emma suddenly retorted angrily, "None of that will matter if we don't find him! My parents too. There's no way this Angel of Death and her knight left Storybrooke with three prisoners."

"Maybe my power will be powerful enough to break through whatever magic these villains are using to block us from seeing them," the Dark One replied as he summoned one of his crystal balls into his hand, then enacted it in order to try to find Hook, Snow, or David wherever they might be.

"I'm afraid not even my magic can break through this barrier of theirs," he then said again over a minute later, after no image appeared within the orb.

But then, Nova suddenly flew inside the diner out of breath after she had flown to find her friends as fast as she possibly could as she cried out, "I know… I know where they are. Hook and David… and Snow. They're together. But you have to come fast. Hook… he's hurt. Terribly hurt. It was horrible."

Emma looked up at the Pink Fairy in fear as she asked, "Where are they?"

"They're in someone's house just outside of the woods," Nova answered again. "I can't remember the name David used, but… they spoke of a… a hatter."

"Jefferson," Regina uttered crossly. "These two must have run into Jefferson at some point in their travels. How else would they know they could hide out inside his house?"

Before the Savior used her power to magic herself from the diner to get to her husband and her parents, she looked up at the Pink Fairy again as she asked worryingly, "What have they done to Killian, Astrid? And my parents… are they safe?"

Nova floated down until she was eye level with Emma and then she responded, "Your parents are fine now thanks to Killian. He saved them by handing himself over to them. And your parents have actually managed to tie up his enemies for now, but… I don't know if it will last. And before you magic yourself there… You have to know they used this very powerful dagger to hurt Killian. And it's still very much alive and is making Killian worse. You must be careful."

"I will be, but I can't wait any longer to save him," Emma fearfully replied and then used her power to magic herself from the diner to Jefferson's old house where she herself had also once been a prisoner like her mother had been.

"Let's go," Regina then stated out of frustration, then used her own power to transport herself and Zelena after Emma.

Gold asked Belle to remain at the diner where she and their son would remain safe along with most of the dwarfs, then he too magicked himself and Grumpy to the hatter's house so they could be of help to their friends, while Blue, Nova, Tink, and Tiger Lily all flew there to join them as well.


	20. Chapter 20

Lieutenant Hawkins and the Angel of Death

Chapter Twenty

Emma magicked herself just outside of Jefferson's house, not knowing exactly what it was she'd be walking into. It was only moments after she had, that Gold appeared behind her along with Grumpy, as well as Regina with Zelena too. And the Savior was grateful knowing that Blue, Nova, Tinker Bell, and Tiger Lily wouldn't be far behind. She had plenty of people willing to fight on her side to save the man she loved and her parents, and it gave her the confidence she needed to fight against whatever was waiting for them inside.

So, once Emma approached the door, she paused a moment as she quickly turned her head to look back between those standing behind her while they all nodded, then she faced the door again and suddenly used her powers to break it down before she immediately charged inside.

Upon doing so, her mother urgently called out to her from where she and David were both still sitting above her wounded and suffering husband, while Angelica and Jim remained bound in the chairs after the Prince had finished binding them, then the Savior rushed over as she fell on her knees beside Killian, taking her father's place beside him.

"We're so sorry, Emma," Snow whispered sadly, as she looked up at her daughter's face while she continued to look down at Killian through her tears. "He came here to save your father and me. He was willing to give his life… for us. We pleaded with him to leave, but…"

"You both know as well as I do that he never would have allowed anything happen to you if there was a way he could save you," the younger woman worryingly replied. "Especially not when he's blaming himself for you being in danger."

Killian's eyes were closed after he had finally lost his battle with consciousness, although his body still trembled and writhed from the pain he was in. Tears began to fall from her eyes as Emma tenderly reached up to caress the side of his face until she laid her hand over the gash over his cheek to try to heal it, only to discover she couldn't so long as whatever power was torturing him continued.

The Savior finally turned her head to look over at the long, thin blade made of jade still embedded in his hand while he remained pinned to the floor, as both Gold and Regina came over to kneel down beside them in order to observe the weapon as well. Emma then reached out and was about to pull it out despite Nova's warning, until the Dark One suddenly raised his own hand to stop her.

As he did so, he quickly stated, "You don't want to do that, Miss. Swan. Trust me. The fairy was right to warn us of its power. I sense very dark magic emanating from within this dagger like I feared I would."

The fairies all arrived and began to hover above their friends except for Blue, who swiftly made herself human size so she could try to help Killian too, while Emma looked at Gold in frustration, then asked angrily, "So how do we help him then? Think of something!"

"Unless you all want to die along with your pirate, I'm afraid there's nothing you'll be able to do for him," the Angel then answered coldly from across the room, once the Pink Fairy's freeze spell finally wore off. "Although, you could just put him out of his misery… if you truly do love him that is. It's the most merciful thing you can do for him."

"No," the Savior darkly responded to her, as she glared at the villainess while she continued to speak. "We will save him. And you're going to pay for all the pain you've inflicted on him."

Angelica began to laugh, until she stopped as she turned her head in order to look at Emma as well, then she replied, "Do you really think that you've defeated me merely by casting a freeze spell over me and tying me up? My husband and I have collected a number of magical artifacts, Savior. And some of them are right here in this room with us. Just in case all of you made it this far."

Jim looked over at his wife in confusion while he asked, "Angelica… what are you talking about? Please… we have to stop this. Jones is going to die. We don't have to continue living as villains any longer. We can just leave."

"And what, Jim?" she angrily retorted as she glared at her husband. "Return home? We don't have a home to return to. That bastard destroyed it. He destroyed everything! And now his family are trying to save him. I won't let that happen."

"What the hell's that?" David then asked her, as he raised his sword again and pointed it at the Angel's throat once he walked over to stand in front of her when she began to chant some kind of spell under her breath in a language no one understood. "Stop now! What are you doing?!"

Unfortunately, the Angel of Death wasn't listening to him, or to anyone including her own husband, and before anyone could stop her, multiple dark shadow like creatures suddenly flew out from within an ancient black urn which no one noticed sitting out on the coffee table in front of the couch, as the entities began to surround the heroes who all immediately stood to prepare to fight them except for Emma, who laid her body over Killian's to protect him from further harm.

Regina stayed close to Zelena protectively as well since she didn't have her powers any longer to be able to really fight back, while the Wicked Witch called out, "What the hell are these things?"

While the Angel just smiled at the beings she conjured, the Lieutenant worryingly answered the witch, "They're dark foul souls from all who have ever died within the Forest of the Dead, collected by a dark fairy who used to live there with the dagger! Until the blade finally killed her as well when Angelica and I took possession of it. And now she's become one of them!"

"Well… how do we stop them?" Regina questioned again, when they suddenly began to attack while those with power struggled to fight against them.

"Find a way to get them back inside the urn I guess," Jim replied curtly. "Let me go and I'll try my best to help you!"

One of the entities suddenly lashed out against Tinker Bell and struck her down to the floor unconscious while still in her fairy form, but as it attempted to finish its task to kill the Green Fairy, Tiger Lily immediately blasted the creature back using fire she swiftly formed in her hands. However, their fight against them only made the entities angrier and therefore stronger.

Regina also formed fireballs within her hands and blasted the souls away, while Gold used his power to try to destroy them only to discover that even the darkness was no match against them. It only made them screech out in pain. David swung Hook's sword at them when two more attempted to strike at him and Snow while he protected his wife. Yet his blade only phased through them and were it not for Nova and Blue seeing they were in trouble, as both fairies fired their own magic at them to get them to back away from their friends, Snow and David might have been killed as the souls attempted to rip out theirs almost like how Pan's shadow had done to rip out people's shadows.

Zelena was suddenly grabbed from behind her as one of the creatures pulled her off her feet and into the air by her neck, while she began to struggle to breathe. But just as it forced its claw like hand into her back to steal her soul from her, Gold and Regina both used their power to force it back, causing the entity to drop Zelena as she fell to the floor in a heap. The younger sister rushed over to make sure she was okay and when the older woman simply nodded to ensure Regina she was, the former Evil Queen returned to the fight, quickly thanking Gold as she did so.

Grumpy stayed among the heroes and swung his ax against the dark beings with all his might while he screamed at them. Like the sword David wielded, his ax was no better, but it didn't stop him from trying to protect Emma and Killian. However, he too was suddenly lifted by another of them and thrown back through the air against one of the walls around them. And when Nova saw the man she still loved was in trouble as it forced its hand into the dwarf's chest, she immediately blasted her magic against the creature to save him, for which he then thanked her for doing.

Unfortunately, the souls surrounded the heroes again, having grown immune to the powers each of those possessing magic had thrown at them. All except for Emma's, as she had yet to ignite her own power. At last, the Savior emitted her strongest light magic from her hands so bright that it filled the entire room, causing the entities to scream in pain. Emma shouted at those with light magic to follow her lead, as Regina, Blue, Nova, and Tiger Lily all emitted their own again to strengthen her power until each of the souls dispersed into nothing and were finally freed from the control the Angel of Death had over them so they could enter the Underworld where they belonged.

Angelica angrily cried, "That's not possible!"

Gold neared her, then once he stood in front of her, he answered coldly, "I'm afraid it's very possible, Your Highness. You've lost."

"Not yet I haven't," she cruelly responded while she glared up at him. "Jones' life force is still mine. He's at death's door and I've killed him. You will never be able to save him."

"Killian?" the Savior then whispered in a fearful plea, when she leaned over the man she loved once more and looked down at his lifeless face growing cold against the skin of her hands while she continued to hold her husband, as everyone turned their attentions back on him and Emma. "No… No, please. Gold? Regina? Blue? There has to be something we can do! There has to be a way to…"

She suddenly cut herself off and before the others now surrounding her again could say anything, Emma used her power to pull the jade dagger free from the floor and most importantly from Killian's hand despite the risk, causing him to gasp while his eyes burst open and he awoke still feeling nothing but deep anguish throughout his entire body, then she levitated the blade in the air above them.

She laid her hand tenderly over Killian's chest above his heart again, then raised her free hand while she prepared to attempt to destroy the dagger using as much strength within her as she could muster, yet before she could, a voice spoke out when someone unexpected magically appeared from behind the heroes saying, "Please… leave destroying this blade to me. I can't be harmed by it like my dear friends can."

Everyone turned around and stared at the newcomer in surprise, though some didn't know who it was while those who had journeyed down into the Underworld did, then Snow uttered, "Hercules? But how… How are you here?"

"My father sent me here… now that this cursed dagger forged by the dark jade crystals from Mount Olympus is no longer in the control of someone who would be willing to destroy everyone who ever tried to stop her, or to take it from her," the half God, who had moved on from the Underworld to be reunited with Zeus and the rest of his family in the world where he truly belonged, firmly replied. "It cannot kill a God, especially one who's already been killed and his soul freed thanks to all of you. However, it can strip us of our powers if in the wrong hands as it's been all these years until now."

"Please… can you save Killian?" the Savior asked through her tears again, as she looked up into his eyes pleadingly.

Hercules sadly looked down on her and the man she loved as he lay dying within her arms and then he answered, "I promise you, Emma… if I can I will try. I failed to help you save him down in the tunnels in the Underworld when I couldn't face Cerberus. I don't ever wish to let you down again. I'm hoping that by destroying this dagger, it will be enough to save him."

He then raised his head as he reached out to take the dagger from the Savior's power still holding it, while the Angel of Death furiously called out, "If you destroy it, you'll kill me and my husband!"

"You've used the dark power of this weapon to kill and to rip hundreds, if not thousands of life forces from evil and innocent people for over two centuries in order to stay alive just so you can kill one man who wronged you so long ago," Zeus' son responded, when he turned around to look down at her while she remained bound in her chair. "Even though he's become a good man who was willing to give his life all over again to save those he loves. And had the others been unable to defeat your army of dark souls just now, you would have killed them as well for your own lust for revenge and power. I don't want to take your life, or that of your husband's, but it is the fate you've brought upon yourself. This blade must be destroyed."

"Then do it," Jim suddenly replied, much to everyone's surprise, especially that of his wife's.

Angelica glared at him while she retorted, "What are you doing? Do you really want to die, while the man who murdered my father and Silver survives?! I'm your wife, Jim!"

Lieutenant Hawkins nodded as a single tear slipped down his cheek, then he answered, "I know and I still love you. I always have and I always will, Angelica. But we lost our way a long time ago. Became the villains we pretended we weren't for the sake of revenge on one man like this man said. I've lived too long. I don't want to anymore."

"I am sorry," Hercules stated again once Jim finished and then took the jade dagger into both his hands while Angelica screamed out in anger, as the half God used his strength to suddenly break it in half, causing a wave of power to burst from it powerful enough to knock everyone in the room to the floor except for himself.

Once the power filling the room faded away, the heroes weakly sat up from the floor and raised their heads to look up at their friend standing above them, then most of them turned towards Angelica and Jim Hawkins, while they saw that the force emitted from within the dagger as it was broken had indeed killed them like the Angel had feared it would, now that the life forces of those they had stolen them from were released into the world before they too faded away into nothingness. All except for Killian's life force, which returned to where it truly belonged.

Emma looked down at the man she loved still lying so lifeless while she continued to caress his face in an effort to bring him back to her. Blue then knelt down with them as she conjured her wand and used her own magic to heal his wounds, especially the deep hole within his hand now that his life was no longer bound to the jade dagger.

At last, Killian awoke again and struggled to breathe through his pain he still felt while it slowly faded away through the Blue Fairy's ministrations and his wife's love. He opened his eyes weakly in order to look up into Emma's and offered her a sad smile. However, he didn't say a word to her before he simply closed his eyes once more and allowed the Savior hold him tightly in her arms. And what was worse, was that Emma understood why all he could give her was a smile. Because Killian still blamed himself for what Angelica and Jim had done.

"I'm glad Killian's going to be alright again, Emma," Hercules finally spoke again. "My father will be very happy to hear this as well."

He then turned to look around at the others standing again around him, including Tinker Bell after she awoke, as he added, "I'm afraid I must go. Don't worry about the dagger shards, or about Angelica's and Jim's bodies. I will take them from here. It's good to see you again. As well as the rest of you I never got to know. Goodbye."

Once Hercules was gone after he vanished along with the bodies of the villains and the dagger, Gold turned to Grumpy and said sternly, "I suppose it's time you do as I've brought you here to do, Leroy."

"Right… the black spot's still somewhat of a problem," the dwarf responded, then he looked around the room. "I don't suppose you know where that magic sapphire is?"

"You can rid him of it?" Emma asked the Dark One when she looked up at him and Grumpy again.

Gold nodded as he summoned the gift box still containing the stone within it after he saw it sitting on the coffee table next to the ancient urn which was no longer a problem for them either, then he replied, "Leroy here can. With his ax. Or so I believe."

Once he used his power to pull the sapphire from its box, then to set it on the floor, Gold and the others all stepped back and he finally swung his ax down to destroy the Eye of the Storm at last. Like expected, Gold's hope that his plan would work had worked as the stone shattered into pieces while a pulse shot out from the force of it being destroyed. Not nearly as powerful as the one that had come from the dagger's destruction, but enough to force everyone to shield their eyes until it was done.

Emma then looked down at Killian's hand as she tenderly picked it up from where he now rested it against his chest so that she could turn it over to look at his palm, and watched as the black spot finally faded away, then raised her head to looked up at Gold again, as well as everyone else within the room while she whispered, "Thank you."

Two nights later, inside Emma's and Killian's home…

Emma, David, and Snow who was holding Neal in her arms, were standing around the island in the kitchen as they spoke quietly amongst themselves and finished cooking dinner for them to enjoy the evening together, while Killian stayed out in the living room after his wife told him she and her parents would be back out shortly with something for them to eat.

"How is Killian holding up, Emma?" her mother finally asked upon seeing the sadness still in her daughter's eyes, and the despair in their son's, while Killian continued to struggle being around anyone.

"Not well," the Savior sadly answered her. "He won't hardly talk about what happened since his past caught up to him again and what little he does talk, it's to make sure that I'm taken care of. Killian's angry with himself. Ashamed… and I just don't know what to say to help him to forgive himself this time. But at least he's been eating."

David looked at her as he shook his head and responded, "He has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Not anymore. Hook… he very nearly gave his life to save mine and Snow's. We owe him everything. And as for what happened in his past…"

Snow quickly finished for her husband saying, "He was a different man then. One who was alone, and angry, and who lost everything. His life ever since he was a young boy was filled with pain and misery. I can't begin to imagine how much pain he lived with every day. Your father and I understand why he became a villain. And it amazes us that despite it all, the good man in him fought to break out of the darkness surrounding him when he met you, Emma. If anyone can help him do so again, it's you."

"Would you mind finishing up with dinner?" Emma finally asked her parents.

"Of course," David replied, then continued to help his wife once their daughter left the room.

When she walked in the main room of their house, the Savior found the man she loved sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace while he was staring into the flames. It wasn't the first time she had seen him so broken like this while he stared at them, knowing he was deeply ashamed and angry with himself for something he'd done in his past. Only the last time he was lost like this, Emma had been too quick to anger and she pushed him away, very nearly losing him back then too, but because of her own doing. Little did she know that Killian was thinking about the same incident, unaware his wife was once again standing behind him.

A few years ago…

 _While Killian stared into the flames and the dreamcatcher he held in his hands as he watched the horror he had unleashed upon David's father to pull the dark memory he wanted to forget from his mind, he saw himself about to kill an innocent man and heard himself cruelly whisper, "_ _Dead men tell no tales."_

 _All of a sudden, Emma startled him when she appeared behind him in the living room where he was about to toss the dreamcatcher now holding his memory into the fire upon seeing his memory for herself before he could, then she stated in shock, "_ _That's David's father._ _"_

 _"_ _It was you," she woundedly added once he quickly rose to his feet again to face the woman he loved and had become engaged to._

 _"Emma… let me explain," Killian pleaded when he attempted to walk towards her until she backed away from him._

 _She raised her hand by way of asking him to stay back as she struggled to process what she had seen, then she answered crossly, "No, it seems very clear to me."_

 _Her fiancé looked into her eyes imploringly while he responded, "I swear to you… I wanted to tell you. I tried. But then you found that ring, and I just couldn't bear to ruin that happiness."_

 _"How could you do this?" Emma asked him again coldly, like she had never loved the man standing before her begging her to forgive him and understand._

 _"I've been asking myself the same question, and all I can say is that I was a broken man for a very long time, and I did horrendous things," Hook shamefully replied to her until she swiftly cut him off._

 _She then amended her words to help him understand what she really wanted to know from him, as she took the dreamcatcher from him and retorted, "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about this."_

 _Emma exhaled sharply, then she continued sternly, "You were about to burn your own memories. Why would you do that?"_

 _"Because I was ashamed, Emma, and scared of losing you and everything that matters to me," the man she loved despite what he was about to do answered her out of fear._

 _"And you really think that would happen after everything we've been through?" she asked him again more curtly, and tossed the dreamcatcher down onto the couch beside her as she continued looking him in his eyes._

 _Hook brusquely responded, "You tell me… How am I supposed to sit across from your mother and father at the table and look them in the eye after what I've done?"_

 _The Savior replied again, "I'm not saying it would be easy. You know them. You know they would forgive you. That's who they are."_

 _"This isn't just about them," Killian answered her in anger, when she couldn't understand what he was trying to help her to understand. "This is about me. I already destroyed my own family once. And that was hard enough, but knowing that I destroyed yours too, I just… I didn't know how I could live with that."_

 _"You come to me, Hook, and you lean on me and you trust me!" she suddenly shouted back at him upon growing desperate to get him to understand her as well. "We have to stop hiding things from each other. The man I fell in love with would know that. You would know that we would do things together."_

 _He looked at her imploringly while he pleaded again, "Emma…"_

 _But Emma interrupted him before he could go on as she said cruelly, "That is what I agreed to marry. That is what I thought that we were together. Until you're ready for that… then we can talk."_

 _With that said, Emma pulled off her engagement ring he had given to her the night before when he proposed to her, then handed it back to him before she turned and walked away from him to go upstairs to their room alone, not knowing or caring right then just how badly doing so had hurt him. All she could think about was her own pain, selfish or not._

"Killian?" Emma at last whispered to her husband so she could try to pull him out of his thoughts, as she knelt down on the floor beside him, then raised her hand to his face to gently begin to caress his cheek and play with his hair. "Hey… look at me, please."

"Don't worry, love," he responded softly, then offered her a brief smile that disappeared as quickly as he offered it to her, when he finally did like she asked of him. "I don't plan on burning anymore of my memories ever again. I don't even have a dreamcatcher."

The Savior shook her head sadly and she replied, "I know I don't ever have to worry about that with you again. Is that what you've been thinking about this whole time? Our fight that afternoon when you were afraid I had broken up with you."

The man she loved looked away from her while he austerely answered, "That… and a number of other things."

"I was too," she responded sadly. "You were staring into the flames when I came in back then too. Just as you were now. Killian, I… I'm not really sure… what I can say to you this time to help you to through this. I mean… I've said everything I can possibly think of to try to help you understand that none of this was your fault. What happened… with those two from your past… Angelica and Jim Hawkins brought what happened to them upon themselves and everything they did to you…"

"Your parents almost died because of me, Emma," Killian suddenly retorted far more curtly than he meant to once he looked back into her eyes again. "They poisoned you father and threatened your mother so they could lure me out. And worse… earlier you pleaded with me never to harm myself or to sacrifice my life again, even for others' protection. And I went back on my word. I had Nova put you to sleep with her fairy dust so I could slip out without you trying to stop me, or follow me because they demanded I come alone. And every part of me wanted to. I was prepared to die again despite your unending forgiveness, because I'm tired… So tired of those I love getting hurt because of me. Tired of having you all hear of all the horrors I've inflicted upon others in my past and seeing the disappointment in your eyes when you do."

Emma finally just wrapped her arms around her husband and held him tightly against her while she could feel him tremble when he began to cry as she did, until David spoke softly after he and Snow had heard his confession to their daughter once they walked out from the kitchen saying, "You don't have to worry about Snow or me ever thinking any less of you again, Hook."

Killian and Emma looked at them while Snow approached them as she continued lovingly, "Or disappointed. David's right. We've known you're a good man more than worthy of being Emma's husband for a long time, before you even proposed to her. Your past and all. You belong in this family, Killian. And we're proud to call you our son."

"What you did for us… when you gave your life for us, it was admirable and we won't ever forget it, or be able to thank you enough," David sincerely added. "Let us help you find the strength and will to forgive yourself. And in time… you will."

"I don't… I don't know what to say except… thank you," Killian replied, then accepted David's hand to help him stand, as Snow did for Emma.

Emma smiled at him as she wiped away their tears and answered, "It's what we do. We help each other through our pain, Killian. I love you. More than life itself."

"And I you, Emma," her love responded, then leaned in to kiss her.

The End


	21. Thank You

Thank you to all who have read and have written reviews for my story! I am so grateful for your kindness. I'm deeply honored and I hope to hear from you all again. There will be plenty more stories to come. Best of wishes to you all!

Sincerely,

Genevieve Kelly


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